Itamar Levy came to the world of design out of a passion for art.: Painting, sculpture and even fashion design were an integral part of his life since high school.
But he found his true stage when his parents built a house, and he was exposed to the process and even actively participated in it. What makes Levy unique is the double journey in his studies: first as an architectural engineer at Tel Aviv University, and later a degree in interior design at the College of Management. While studying for his degree, he already found himself juggling between his studies and a penthouse overlooking the sea on the 20th floor. “I learned by doing,” he says today, looking back on 15 years of work that led him to create a unique niche in the Israeli design market.

While studying design, he realized how critical the technical knowledge he acquired as an engineer was in implementing his design ideas:“Everything has to synchronize, and I enjoy the synergy between the technical and the aesthetic, which also gives rise to something much more special. One without the other just doesn’t work for me. The real breakthrough is the combination,” he explains. More than a decade ago, during a year of study and training in the US, he was exposed to a different design culture – “I realized that in Israel we still don’t have a language or heritage at the housing level,” he says, adding that overseas he learned about different construction technologies and the art of dressing, which is expressed, for example, in colors, cornices and panels. “These details and their dimensions are actually derived from the height of the wall, and I, as a designer, have responsibility for these proportions,” he emphasizes.

During his stay abroad, Itamar was exposed to the “Colonial-New England” style, which originated on the northern coast of the United States and combines English classics with life by the sea.“These are homes where every object tells a story, and the style reflects a certain lifestyle, with a lot of character and soul,” he describes. It is a design language that is also associated with American lifestyle brands like Ralph Lauren – elegant yet relaxed design, which conveys sophistication alongside warmth and homeliness. He brought this language with him to Israel, adapting it to Israeli homes and clients both from a practical and design perspective, so that they blend in harmoniously with the climate, light and local lifestyle. Beyond the palette of natural materials and blue-green tones that characterize the style, it also expresses an atmosphere and values of tradition and a personal story, which also reflect his way of working.

Itamar’s clients are individuals, people of the big world, who appreciate art and want to develop a personalized identity with it, which will be reflected in the design of their home.“Clients come to me because of my style and my signature,” he notes, but adds that the design process is built around them: “I delve into them, learn who they are and what story they want to tell through the home.” In addition to the technical aspects of the program and functions in the home, Itamar is interested in the cultural world of the clients, the movies they watch, the music they listen to and the hotels they enjoy staying in.

“This gives me information about their personality. I look for the client’s DNA and create a personal and intimate story from it. Everyone makes a set of plans and visualizations, but cracking the client is something else.”

He describes working on his projects, most of which are luxury homes and apartments, as ‘conducting an orchestra’, with the designer’s job being to maintain harmony between all the voices involved in the project, such as clients, suppliers and professionals, both during the process and in the final result. “My goal is to bring out the sound at its best and involve everyone in the process. In addition to the conceptual work, there is a lot of work involved in logistics, budgets and schedules in a project like this, and therein lies the difference between basic technical execution and design led by a true authority,” he concludes.

Interior Design: Itamar Levy

Photo: Yair Dotan