Diego Delgado-Elias Is Turning Memories Into Modern Design
What happens when the places you’ve been, the people you’ve met, and the memories you’ve collected become something you can actually touch? For Peruvian-born, Paris-based architect and interior designer Diego Delgado-Elias, the answer is OFRENDA, his debut collection of furniture and objects. Presented at the Embassy of Peru in France from October 19–21, 2026, the collection brings together culture, craftsmanship, and personal history in a way that feels both intimate and architectural.
Inspired by the Andean tradition of the offering, OFRENDA takes its name from a ritual rooted in reciprocity, where meaningful elements are gathered and returned to the earth. Rather than recreating the tradition literally, Delgado-Elias reimagines its philosophy through design, bringing together influences from his upbringing in Peru, his experiences in Europe, and more than two decades of working across architecture and interiors.
The result is a collection where seemingly opposite worlds coexist beautifully. Think sculptural furniture, richly textured woods, polished metals, fused glass, woven textiles, and ceramics that celebrate the relationship between precision and imperfection. Bold, almost brutalist silhouettes meet softer, organic shapes, while handcrafted details give each piece its own personality.
The tables are particularly striking, pairing circular surfaces in fused glass or richly grained wenge wood with sleek metal structures. Seating takes a more tactile approach, combining architectural forms with raw canvas, woven fabrics, and alpaca skins. Meanwhile, cabinets, bar furniture, and a record-player cabinet introduce subtle influences from Italian modernism and Art Deco, bringing a sense of nostalgia into contemporary spaces.
Throughout OFRENDA, Delgado-Elias incorporates references to Andean culture in ways that feel thoughtful rather than decorative. Hand-forged details, ceremonial-inspired forms, and geometries influenced by the chakana, or Andean stepped cross, appear throughout the collection. These elements aren’t meant to immediately announce themselves. Instead, they’re woven into the furniture’s construction, inviting a closer look.
For Delgado-Elias, the collection is less about recreating the past and more about understanding how it continues to shape the present.
“OFRENDA is not about representing where I come from, but about understanding how the things I have seen, lived with and remembered have gradually shaped the way I see,” he explains.
After more than 20 years designing residential, hospitality, and yacht interiors, Delgado-Elias is turning his attention to the objects that give those spaces character. With OFRENDA, furniture becomes more than something functional or beautiful. It becomes a reflection of identity, experience, and the stories we carry with us.
And perhaps that’s what makes this debut so compelling. In a world where interiors are often driven by what’s trending, Delgado-Elias reminds us that the most interesting spaces, and the objects within them, are the ones that tell a story.
OFRENDA will be presented at the Embassy of Peru in France from October 19–21, 2026.
