Founders Alina Tacmelova and Yury Goncharov discovered their niche by merging art with engineering

Husband and wife team Alina Tacmelova and Yury Goncharov founded their custom fabrication company YA Fabrica to help clients create, well, anything. Digital designs are realized in the physical world using multiple processes and materials. Think furniture, art, architectural and décor elements, lighting, or sculpture. The works they create, often using digital printing and/or Styrofoam transcend the usual boundaries of what’s possible. The affable couple’s talents blend seamlessly; Goncharov is a trained engineer and Tacmelova is an artist and psychologist. By mixing an artistic vision with technical know-how and a human touch, they craft expressive and precise design products. We chatted with them in their studio north of the city.

Founders Alina Tacmelova and Yury Goncharov with two of their own designs from their space-age collection EX-PERIMENT 60 – we first caught a glimpse of the work at IDS Toronto 2023.

What is your vision for the brand?

Our initial vision was to create objects using only our own designs. After less than a year, we decided to change our strategy slightly. We started a fabrication service for designers who have their own designs of decor or furniture elements, but don’t know how to implement them. In other words, we bring digital design into reality.

What type of services does YA Fabrica offer?

We offer full design from the concept or idea and bring it to 3D rendering. The next step is the actual transition of the object from the digital to physical world. These objects can be interior or exterior decor elements or fully functional furniture pieces. We offer non-standard solutions for non-standard ideas.

Furniture, objects and artworks can all be conceived of digitally then rendered using a 3D printer.

Your work is so unique and artistic. Who influences you?

We are enthusiasts of the aesthetics of purity, drawn from our numerous journeys. Travel, exhibitions, encounters, and conversations are the main sources of our inspiration. By returning to the roots of design, we study its history to not forget what lies at its foundation. The creations of Alessandro Mendini and the Eameses, experiments with form by Verner Panton and Gaetano Pesce, the thought processes of the Bouroullec brothers and Campana, avant-garde projects of the De Stijl movement and the Memphis group — all inspire us.

You mentioned Gaudi as a great influence earlier. I can see his swooping forms in your own designs.

His masterpiece is the Sagrada Familia. In the annals of human history, this stands as a unique example of historical architecture, seamlessly blending a 160-year-old history with modern technology. Incorporating 3D printers and CNC machines, it maintains a human– manual approach to monumental architecture. This approach resonates with our philosophy in creating innovative designs.

The team at YA Fabrica consists of engineers, architects, fabricators and artists who use a multitude of materials to bring their clients’ designs to life.

What types of processes do you use to create your works?

We utilize a large variety of processes. It starts with the initial design. When we work on our own projects, it starts from the sketch or clay sculpted model. After that, it gets transferred into a 3D digital model. The next step is preparation for fabrication and creating process maps by defining what equipment we’ll use and what materials. We also have our own metal and carpentry departments, as well as painting. All these assets have zero value without our talented people who give breath to all our creatures.

YA Fabrica operates with zero waste, recycling all of its E.P.S. offcuts. When hard-coated, the material is incredibly resilient.

You use Styrofoam (aka E.P.S. foam) in your objects in a unique way. What would surprise people about it as a material?

There are a lot of secrets hidden in this material. First, its carbon footprint. Manufacturing of E.P.S. creates three times less carbon monoxide than cardboard manufacturing. Recycling is another topic: all offcuts and leftovers from our manufacturing go to recycling. We send it to a special facility where 100 per cent of materials get a second life. It gets used for insulation materials or melted into hard plastic to be used in other industries. E.P.S. foam is lightweight, and its physical properties are excellent for sculpting and machining. During the processing we use, E.P.S. does not release any toxic fumes and working with it, we don’t need any special safety equipment.

How does your studio differ from others?

We are never limited in material selection. When you don’t have a limitation, your dreams are unleashed and fly freely. The second key is our people. Our team consists of engineers, architects, fabricators by education, and artists on a mission. When we combine all our skills and talents, we never miss the target to make a masterpiece in the ideal implementation. YAFABRICA.COM