We sat down with Renata Pocztaruk and discussed her career journey, the Arq Express Empire and how to be a more sustainable designer.
Renata Pocztaruk is one of Brazil's foremost architects and designers, and the visionary behind Arq Express, the nation's largest decoration platform. Renowned for her immense influence in the world of interiors, Renata's career is a testament to her talent and dedication. We sat down to discuss Renata’s journey, the Arq Express empire and the significance of sustainability in interior design.
My mother is an architect, my father is an engineer and partner in a construction company, so I was "born" into this world. When I graduated, my father got me a job at the global furniture store Florense, and six months in, I was already involved in the renovation of the store. I worked there for three years and learnt a lot in this time. The experience I gained led me to receive an opportunity to work in my mothers office, one of the largest civil architecture firms in Brazil. Here I developed significantly as a professional, and after proving myself, my mother told me that I could open my own interior arm inside her office, working for my own clients.
Working for myself. I realized that I didn’t have a clear process and strategy to find and build relationships with new clients. That's when I stopped and created Arq Express. My main goal was to make it easy for designers to find, connect with and build client relationships. By democratizing the industry, we can create more job opportunities and allow anyone to access and hire a skilled designer. It quickly became a success and Arq Express is now the largest decoration and architecture platform in Brazil. To date, we have delivered more than seven thousand projects for over four thousand clients.
My brand has a great presence in the architecture and interior market. We receive physical samples everyday from brands wanting us to present their new collections to our following of designers. But not every designer has the ability to access samples from brands, I wanted to change this and democratize the industry. So I worked with brands to create Arq Box; a physical sample box with an array of the latest material samples for designers. This was a great success and sold out in minutes. However, I soon realized that it was unsustainable for both the environment and for brands to continue to provide and send out large amounts of physical samples.
I knew we needed a digital solution. So in 2018 we created a mood board app precisely to facilitate designers with the latest products, while also giving them the ability to create mood boards. Before knowing Mattoboard, it was the best way to present ideas and proposals in the office and to clients.
Digital samples. If the world is digital, we need to create the awareness that samples can be digital too. Democratizing samples on platforms such as Mattoboard not only allows for less physical samples to be sent, reducing a significant amount of waste, but it also relieves designer frustrations that comes with having limited access to samples.
As industry professionals, we have a responsibility to minimize our environmental impact. One way to do this is through more conscious exchanges. For a long time architecture has been synonymous with luxury. However it needs to become more synonymous with necessity. As designers, it’s natural for us to gravitate towards aesthetics, but we need to ensure that we are being mindful when thinking about our aesthetic choices. Your process should look at the needs and functionality of a space first and then adapt the aesthetic to this. What worked before does not work anymore. With the pressing issues of sustainability brings a new market with a new client and as designers, we need to adapt our process to this.
One of the biggest adaptations you can make as a designer is to make more sustainable material choices. Always do your research into the latest sustainable materials and brands on the market. I make conscious material choices for every project and gravitate towards more sustainable brands like; Legrand, Pure Shower and Akzo Nobel. One of my favorite sustainable materials to use is recycled vinyl flooring as it is extremely durable and can be recycled.
I am also passionate about sustainable concepts such as Biophilic design. Connecting the occupants of a space with nature through innovative ways can not only have a positive impact on the environment, but can also impact the occupants health and wellbeing and even increase creativity. It is a concept that is becoming increasingly popular with my clients.
They can follow me on Instagram! I have also released a series of guides and ebooks sharing all of my experience and knowledge for interior designers and architects. Covering a range of different topics from decoration how-to’s to in-depth professional guides, there is something useful for every type of designer!
Mattoboard is a 3D tool for designers. Our drag and drop technology helps you design quickly & experiment endlessly. Stay on trend and use visual storytelling to create mood and material boards.
