The Dreamscape of Daniel Orozco

Daniel Orozco Studio makes functional art from certified Mexican wood, stone, and marble — 250 pieces spanning from Tulum to Louis Vuitton stores worldwide and a Miami high-rise.

Daniel Orozco's practice resists the conventional categories of design. He believes  that an object is both functional and artistic and not a compromise between two things but something more valuable than either alone. Orozco, who founded his studio in Tulum in 2021 and has since expanded to a showroom in Mexico City, began in interior design before arriving at this position — not through theory but through the felt insufficiency of working purely with space. He needed something more tangible. He began sketching.

The first collection, The Original, was made of solid turned wood: pendant lamps, coffee tables, side tables. It was shot at a hacienda in Mérida, Yucatán, and received significant international coverage. From there came invitations to Milan and Paris, and then the second collection, Forms of Stone, in which wood began to be combined with marble and stone. The Tableware collection followed as a side project, born from the leftover pieces of wood and stone from the studio's sculptures and furniture — reused as salt and pepper shakers, ashtrays, vases, and bookends, allowing people to take smaller pieces from the showroom. The logic of zero waste embedded itself into the product line naturally."When a piece manages to be both functional and artistic at the same time, it gains added value and becomes unique. What truly transforms a space is the presence of these objects within the environment." — Daniel Orozco

Today, the studio has approximately two hundred and fifty pieces in its catalogue and works across residential, hospitality, and commercial projects — including furniture and sculptures for Louis Vuitton stores around the world and a current collaboration with ELLE for a high-rise apartment building in Miami. Orozco collaborates closely with Abraham, a craftsman from Yucatán, in a process that moves from sketch to pattern to workshop through continuous trial and error. Because the studio uses natural materials, no two pieces are identical. The variation is not incidental — it is part of the object's value.

The wood comes exclusively from government-certified sawmills in Quintana Roo and Yucatán. Scraps from large pieces are reused for the tableware collection. A reforestation project is underway with the Mayan community the studio works with. Covering beautiful wood with layers of paint, Orozco says, would be a mistake. The material itself should shine through. Wood is, in a way, the tree's second life — and hiding its colour or texture makes no sense. 

Key takeaways

• Daniel Orozco Studio's central design conviction — that a piece which is both functional and artistic gains more value than either alone — drives a practice built around sculptural tables, pendant lamps, and tableware objects that never fail to serve a purpose, positioning the studio at the intersection of contemporary Mexican design and collectible functional art.
• The studio's material philosophy is rooted in full-cycle use: wood sourced exclusively from government-certified sawmills in Quintana Roo and Yucatán, scraps from large sculptures repurposed into the Tableware collection, and a close ongoing collaboration with Yucatán craftsman Abraham that moves from sketch to pattern to workshop through continuous trial and error — producing series in which no two pieces are identical.
• From its founding in Tulum in 2021, the studio has expanded to a Mexico City showroom, participated in ZⒸonamaco Design for three consecutive years, produced furniture and sculptures for Louis Vuitton stores worldwide, launched a collaboration with ELLE for a Miami high-rise, and runs an annual auction at Zona Maco benefiting the Los Amigos de la Esquina Foundation supporting Mayan children in Tulum.