Kouros Maghsoudi | Furniture Designer

Hug Bed, photo by Tanner Reese

Kouros Maghsoudi offers a candid and instinctive approach to living spaces through his intuitive and impulsive design philosophy. Shaped by his curiosity about architecture, earth sciences, and human behavior, his practice explores the intersection of pleasure, culture, and space. His material experiments merge with a hands-on interest in production, turning each collection into a new field of discovery.

We spoke with Kouros about his intuition-led practice, his approach to making, and the new directions shaped by his desire to reach more people.

Interview: Onur Çoban

Who is Kouros Maghsoudi? Can you briefly tell us about yourself? 

I’m Kouros Maghsoudi. I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs in a Persian family. I studied earth sciences, architecture, and Spanish, and eventually made my way to New York, where I’ve been ever since. I didn’t go to design school -- I'm self-taught and I built my practice on instinct, obsession, and a need to make things that reflect real human behavior. I’m curious about culture, space, pleasure, and how people actually move through their environments.

photos by Danny Roche

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“A lot of design over the past few decades has been sanitized. It avoids anything messy. No vices, no sweat, no sex, no real human behavior. I’m not interested in that. My philosophy is about bringing hedonism and honesty back into design.”

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How would you describe your design philosophy? 

Human behavior isn’t always chic or controlled. Sometimes it’s impulsive, sometimes it’s scandalous, sometimes it’s deeply physical or emotional. And I think our spaces and objects should make room for that.  I want my work to make people feel more free, more themselves. To me, hedonism isn’t about excess. It’s about truth. I’m designing for how people actually live, not how they want to be seen.

Behsheen Chair & Doodool Mirror

What factors do you consider when researching materials or choosing materials for your new projects? Can you tell us a little bit about the material choices in your work? 

Every collection I’ve done has explored different materials. I’m a self-taught artist and designer, so I learn best by diving in -- by actually creating the work and learning directly from my fabricators. My first collection was all wood and 3D printing. The second was aluminum. The third combined ceramic, upholstery, steel, aluminum, and wood. The fourth was marble. The fifth was fiberglass and aluminum. And my sixth will be glass.    

Can you tell us a bit about the design and production process in your work? Are you closer to analogue or digital techniques?

I’m definitely more digital. I usually start by modeling and rendering an idea, then keep tweaking it until it feels right. Once the design is locked in, I work closely with my fabrication team to bring it to life. I’m not a great sketcher, and I don’t really do hand drawings or miniature models like some designers do (at least not yet). My process lives in the screen until it’s ready to become real.

Hug Bed

Which of your works has excited you the most in terms of the design process and the final product?  

Definitely the Hug Tray. It not only led to the Hug Bed and Hug Chair, but it was also my first mass-produced product, which made the whole process totally new for me. It’s made from ceramic, so I had to learn an entirely different production method. Up until then, everything I made was custom and made-to-order.

The design process was tedious in the best way. I spent weeks 3D printing different prototypes to get the dimensions just right, and went back and forth with the factory a lot to work around the limitations of the material. On top of that, I had to figure out packaging, shipping, and fulfillment -- which was a whole other challenge. But seeing it out in the world, in people’s homes, in stores, was worth it.

Hug Tray & Hug Chair

Are you excited for the future? What are your plans? 

I am. I’m looking to expand beyond high-end designer furniture and focus more on collaborations with brands and developing new, affordable small objects (just like my Hug Tray). I want to create pieces that more people can actually live with -- not just design collectors. I’m excited to build out that side of my practice and keep finding new ways to bring my world and fantasy into people’s homes.