Béla Bezold designs eyewear inspired by lava and symbiosis

"Everything that we consume once belonged to nature and will eventually return," says Béla Bezold, an artist and eyewear designer creating lava-like spectacles for the future. "So when I see a chair, a house, a phone, a lamp or a pair of glasses, I see raw nature."

Béla grew up between countries and moved every three years or so, including to Tanga, a port city in Tanzania, where he moved at the age of four. He looks back on Tanga fondly for its lush, mountainous landscapes, which influenced how he would come to perceive the world and his craft as he got older. "I became obsessed with what I now know is the idea of symbiosis and the relationship between nature and the human-made world, which is something that continues to shape my work today." 

After moving to Germany, then to Kenya, and eventually back to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Béla studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven and developed his first pair of glasses. Then he launched his own studio named ITURA, creating what he calls "nature-inspired art", alongside commissions and pieces for exhibitions, including a recent show at Van Abbe Museum.

Nature and its contrast with the human-made guide everything he makes and have informed his visual language from the start. "One has the wisdom that can only come from billions of years of evolution. The other has a lot of knowledge and power, but to forget one important fact: that it too is bound to the first world." It's this imbalance and unequal symbiosis that he's interested in challenging. 

These big-picture inquiries are what steered him towards eyewear design as his chosen medium, for he believes it encapsulates all the big topics he's poking at. "Eyewear not only plays a huge role in how we present ourselves and how we are therefore perceived, but it also can physically change how we see the world," he explains. "Putting on a pair of orange-tinted glasses completely changes your mood and perception." What's more, he's noticed how glasses have evolved, focusing less on functional design and more on decoration, almost like jewellery for the face. At ITURA, he's disrupting the idea of what glasses can be, showing us that specs can also trick the senses and look exceptionally cool while you wear them.

To make a pair, Béla doesn't follow any specific rules and describes the process as being "quite chaotic". Each piece requires a different approach, and he'll often switch between programs like Rhino, ZBrush and Blender, using 3D printing and scanning, hand editing and collaborations with manufacturers for final production. "There is always a specific vision that becomes clearer as I begin to work, but my process is primarily fueled by intuition." 

At the moment, Béla is chipping away at his first small batch of 3D-printed metal sunglasses, which will be available to purchase on his website. He also wants to make his pieces accessible, so he sets a rule for himself: with every collection he makes, one pair will be available through a raffle. So who does Béla see wearing his glasses? "Anyone, really – or at least anyone willing to dare."