Meet Larry Tchogninou, an architect and designer making his mark on the Chicago design community.

Larry runs Ruptur Vision as his solo practice, and Points of Sail as his duo practice with James Langford. We had the pleasure of hosting Larry's Object Show at our sister shop, The Center of Order and Experimentation, and he has been a dear friend and collaborator ever since. We admire Larry's creativity, tenacity, kindness, and vision. Having just graduated from the architecture program at IIT, Larry is now working full-time in his studio on architecture, interior design, and product design projects. We got a sneak peek of what is in the works, and we can't wait for you all to see what Larry's working on this year!



*Headshot by Maggie Mac.




Hi Larry! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Larry Tchogninou. I am an architect and designer, originally from Benin, West Africa. I came to Chicago in 2018 to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology. 

I run Ruptur Vision as my solo practice, and Points of Sail as a duo practice with my friend James Langford. Both practices focus on design. My work is an ode to optimism. The goal is to constantly show that it is never late for new ideas.

What excited you and sparked your creativity and curiosity as a child?
I'm very much excited by daily things. I always take the idea of making what may seem like the most boring stuff of everyday life and elevating it through the lens of a kid's eye. I feel like my creativity comes from my inner kid and that expresses itself constantly by playing with things that he sees. Taking daily things and elevating them through storytelling, color, material, design, and creating new exciting objects for the world.

A lot of your design inspiration stems from growing up in Benin. What kindled your interest in design and architecture? What brought you to Chicago?
A lot of my design inspiration comes from growing up in Benin. My childhood is my moodboard. Things that I used to eat, people that I used to hang out with, the people that raised me - my mother, my grandmother, my uncles. The things I saw in my childhood are things that make me unique.

My interest in architecture started with my mom. She was building a house for us in the suburbs of Cotonou, and every weekend we’d go visit the house. I fell in love with seeing the builders mixing cement and concrete, stacking the concrete blocks that would become our house. There is a poetry and orchestra to building. I asked my mom who the person was that was putting all of these materials together, and she told me it was the architect. I told her that that is what I want to do. I wanted to be an architect. 

Later, I came to Chicago for my architecture studies, and found product design through Benjamin Edgar, a multidisciplinary creative. Ben designed a marble hanger that I fell in love with. I thought, “okay if someone can design a marble hanger, then why can't I design other objects for daily life?” To me, it was an aha moment, so I started doing design as a way to rethink daily objects.

You studied architecture and design at IIT. While in school, you also began Ruptur Vision. What drew you to start your own brand while in school? Could you share some of your first projects?
I started Ruptur Vision at school out of frustration. I was learning all of these skills at school - sketching, drawing, 3D, laser cutting, CNC. Why couldn’t I use these design processes before I graduated? I thought, “let's start applying these tool to make things in the real world while I'm still in school.” To get my eyes and brain ready for the real world. That's how it started. 

Creating objects was just a warm-up before the real-life experience. The first object I made was a pen holder. The second, a matchbox. And then I start building up a collection from there.

Chicago knows you as a polymath. You even made your own polymath hat! What about this word encapsulates your design practice and personality? 
For a long time, people were driven by doing very specific things. The modern world pushes people to be specialists in one thing. But, why? 

I thought about the renaissance. Creatives like Leonardo da Vinci were just polymaths. He was a painter, a scientist, and an engineer. So, I thought, how do we translate that polymath mindset to today's world? 

I try to do everything from designing spaces to architecture to 3D design. My goal is to be a multidisciplinary creative that does stuff beyond what people think we can do.

Putting the word POLYMATH on a hat is just a way to share that way of thinking with others. Also, it's a way to make people feel proud of that word. Wear it in public, during creative meetings, with friends. It shows that they represent a different way of thinking - by doing it all and being specialized generalists.

In 2020, you joined Nike to help design the Serena Williams collections. What did you learn from this experience? How did you collaborate on the design process with the Nike team and Serena? 
I had the incredible honor to work on Serena Williams’ 2023 lifestyle collection at Nike. I was an accessories designer on that team. My work was to craft storytelling attached to her legacy and apply it to products that were released globally. I designed bags and socks. 

Working for her was an amazing experience. She is very exigent and she knows what she wants. She is honest, direct, and extremely funny. 

That project taught me to be exigent. It helped me to see how perfection is made for athletes at one of the biggest companies in the world. I do truly think that in terms of taste level, there was a Larry before and a different Larry after working with Nike.

Since graduating, how has working full time in your own studio changed your practice and what are you currently working on? 
Before I had to juggle schoolwork and personal projects. It was pretty complicated and hard to do. It was fun, but I tried to find a way to set priorities. Now, since graduating and starting the studio, it's way easier because I can focus full-time on personal projects. I now work on projects in architecture, interior design, and product design.

Could you elaborate on your distinct design principals? 
Ruptur Vision is a design reflection approach based on 6 principal points: Bold and Crazy, Design as a means of communication, Colorful, Oppose use to create others, Question the unhappened, Design In Three Steps.

These principals help me to create products that are true to my style. It is a signature. Everytime I have a design brief, I go back to that ethos to create. It is a manifesto, a style, an approach, a philosophy.

When you release a new design you showcase your process, mechanisms of the design, and inspiration of the final piece. Why do you feel this information is important and how do you want people to interact with your designs and their stories?
We are so used to seeing final products, but we don't really understand where they came from, what conversations brought them to life, or what processes and fabrication went into the creation. So to me, the idea is to demystify the process and show how these things came to life. 

I think it's really important to show the process because it pushes people to dive into the whole journey with you. To understand where it comes from, why each decision was made, and how it affects the final design. Also, I would say that showing the process is a way for me to stay in conversation with the beginner Larry. When I was starting out, I didn't know much about how things were made.

You recently created your own scent in collaboration with Clue Perfumery. What drew you to crafting a fragrance? How does Absence interact with the rest of your design portfolio? 
I've always been passionate about scents. It’s impressive how a smell can bring back so many memories and feelings from childhood. So creating my own scent was a way for me to tell a deeper story. It was a deep dive into feelings, materiality, smells, notes, and sugary inspirations. 

The notes of Absences are mango, milk, honey, vanilla. I wanted to design a scent that forces you to be present. It fits into my design portfolio, because it is another object, just as the others. It’s not more or less important. It’s part of a family of things I’ve designed.

Where do you love to hang out in Chicago? 
I love hanging out in the West Loop. It's an area that is super inspiring to me. I go to SVRN and Notre, hang out with friends, and sometimes end up at Green Street Smoked Meats, where I get dinner or watch a basketball game.

I also appreciate West Town. The Center Of Order and Experimentation, Tala, and In Good Spirits are my favorite places to visit.

What are you currently loving at Martha Mae?
I like the Gold scissors, Brass Match Striker, and Jack Puzzle. 

What makes these objects stand out for me is the brass materiality. I am very much attracted to brass lately. It is a material that I am trying to use more. Its golden tone and weight are interesting.

Larry's Picks