Lévone
Rui Ribeiro
Founder & Creative Director of the pood brand
Rui Ribeiro sees kitchen design as fertile ground for aesthetic and emotional experimentation. His approach transcends function, transforming the domestic space into a platform for sculptural expression. He explores materials, proportions, and visual rhythms through a restrained language, where formal silence becomes an active element of the design. Beyond challenging functional conventions, he affirms the kitchen as a cultural object — meant to be inhabited, contemplated, and enduring.
Under his creative direction, pood is defined by intentionality, attention to detail, and a refusal to follow formulas — creations with character, made to leave a mark.
Lévone I
by Rui Ribeiro
2025
‘I wanted to create the illusion that matter could levitate - that weight could give way to lightness. This cuisine is born from the tension between what sustains and what seems impossible to sustain. It's an exercise in balance and restraint, where technique dissolves into perception.’
This kitchen model features a centre island with a bold and visually striking structural concept. The main design feature lies in the support system: a single element in the form of a curved vertical blade that supports the worktop in an apparently light and almost invisible way, giving the whole a sense of suspension and architectural lightness.
The continuous line that crosses the fronts acts as a visual signature, reinforcing the horizontality of the volume and emphasising the contrast between the opaque surfaces and the voids.
This project emphasises formal restraint and structural clarity, revealing itself as an exercise in synthesis between engineering and aesthetic expression. The island is not just a functional block - it is a sculptural piece integrated into the inhabited space, where the invisible (what it supports) is as relevant as the visible.
Lévone II
by Rui Ribeiro
2025
‘In this project, I tried to provoke a certain strangeness in the eye. The receding base makes the main volume seem lighter, almost as if it were challenging the balance. The interrupted horizontal lines help to break up the rigidity of the block and give it rhythm.’
The Lévone II version is a kitchen island with a recessed base, made up of a monolithic volume with straight lines and a uniform finish.
The lower structure, centred and strategically set back, contributes to a visual effect of suspension while ensuring the stability of the piece.
The cooking area is marked by two negative horizontal lines, which act as inlaid handles and reinforce the graphic reading of the whole.
The opposite side features pressure-opening doors with a hidden system, eliminating the need for handles and guaranteeing a continuous, clean finish.
Lévone III
by Rui Ribeiro
2025
‘In Lévone III, the introduction of the extended table changes the reading of the whole - it projects the function beyond the block, extending the space for interaction. This piece is no longer just an island for cooking; it becomes an architectural gesture that invites permanence, conversation and shared gestures.’
Lévone III differs from previous versions of the Lévone model by incorporating a console table, which projects laterally from the main structure. This element introduces an additional functional component and creates a more dynamic architectural reading of the piece.
The composition is based on a main volumetric block, raised off the ground by a recess in the base, creating a sensation of lightness and buoyancy. The horizontal lines, deliberately interrupted, reinforce the idea of rhythm and formal discontinuity, contributing to the perception of sophistication and restraint.
The table, supported by a vertical T-shaped element, extends overhanging, visually challenging the structural balance. The piece is the result of an exercise in constructive precision, where the contrast between volumes and formal reduction are the main protagonists of the design.
