The Crafted Edits
The Creative Process of Sofia
Every piece I create is an attempt to translate the invisible. To give form to what is intuitive, emotional, almost instinctive.
Not as an architect. Not just as a designer. But as someone who lives to create.
Sometimes an idea is born from a fragment of memory, a reflection of light on a windowpane, the texture of mossy stone, the rhythm of a conversation at a café. For me, that fragment becomes a creative pulse. This is how Royal Stranger was born, from the intuition of an architect from Porto who fell in love with every detail of the world.
My journey is less linear than it might seem. I grew up in Porto and trained as an architect, working alongside masters such as Carlos Castanheira and Álvaro Siza. But it was in 2017, at Maison et Objet in Paris, that I first felt the thrill of an audience resonating with my own creative universe.
This blog is my place to share that journey.
VISUAL INTUITION AND EMOTIONAL ORIGIN
Every project begins with a spark, an unexpected pattern, a memory, or a stroke that moves me. I sketch instinctively with no ruler and no CAD. It is a free process, almost ritualistic. Raw gesture, aesthetic urgency. Sometimes the idea starts with a colour seen in a dream.
• Formal Translation and Architectural Drawing The sketch gains lines. I study the form. I ask myself how does this daring curve hold itself? What structure makes it possible? This is where my architectural training comes into play balancing support and tension, volume and flow, risk and safety.
• Material Exploration I research materials, Italian marble slabs, brushed brass, gold leaf, tropical but sustainable woods, tactile fabrics that enhance light. Nothing satisfies me until I find what transforms the piece into a sensory experience. I value the human hand, every partner, every craftsman, brings ancestral knowledge that amplifies my vision.
• Prototyping and Iteration I create dozens of models in paper, clay, foam. I adjust that curve that seemed perfect but demands correction in the living hand. It is a physical dialogue between paper, fingers, studio light, and my intuition. The piece is only finished when it breathes as I imagined it.
• Finishing and Reveal The moment of finishing arrives. Lacquers with deep chromatic depth, hand-polished marbles, carefully selected upholstery. Then I reveal the piece at a fair, showroom, or a place that embraces it. Watching others’ reactions, seeing bodies interact with it, is the moment when the whole journey justifies itself.
“This is the path every Royal Stranger piece follows. A path that embraces unpredictability, values the human touch, and refuses the predictable. ”
The first sketch is a dream, the finished piece is a manifesto. And this blog, The Crafted Edits, will dissect each step, every choice, every pulse.
Next up, I will tell you about Behind the Pieces, how I choose materials, work with artisans, and ensure quality, sustainability, and aesthetic disruption in every surface, stitch, and shine.
Recommended next read Behind the Pieces, a journey through noble materials, artisanal techniques, and technical challenges that support bold forms.
