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PORTRAITS

WHAT I'VE LEARNED

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rning to sewring American

: the Bouroullecreflect on the

and influences

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RONAN BOUROULLEC:'Our grandparents were farmers from northernFinistère. DIY - home improvements andrepairs - was part of their daily routine. Ourparents weren't into manual labour, but theytaught us a lot about things like making repairsand gardening. Ever since we were young,we've been tinkering away - it's something wetaught ourselves to do.'

ERWAN BOUROULLEC:'Ronan originallystudied applied arts - first at Olivier deSerres [École Nationale Supérieure des ArtsAppliqués et des Métiers d'Artsl and then atEnsad lÉcole nationale supérieure des ArtsDécoratifsl. Given our family background'it was easier to study design than to go to ârtschool. It was a more recognized discipline'which had a clear purpose, while art was not as

easy for some family members to understand'A few years later I went on to study fine arts atCergy-Pontoise.'

'There are few women with whom we'vedeveloped productsl engineers are mostoften men, When it comestotextile-relatedtechniques, though, there are generally manyfemale engineers' prototypers and so on. Thisechoes our family background: our fatherwould look at a project from a structuralperspective - he was doing heavy physicalwork with materials like wood and metal -whereas our mother taught us sewing and finerhandicrafts. Women and men have a differentapproach to making, and I personally love thesubtlety of the feminine way. It's linked witha better ability to concentrate''

RB: 'Our four-handed approach began afterwe joined forces in r999. Our relationship hasevolved over the course ofvarious projects.'We've developed a greater maturity in ourwork. We've also managed to establish somesort of freedom. We used to confer and analyseour designs at every step ofthe way. Nowadayswe work more independently, allowing thingsto grow before questioning ourselves.'

'We currently have a team of ten in ourworkshop. Erwan and I facilitate projects inmuch the same way as a conductor directs anorchestra. When one of us is hesitant aboutdoing a project, that moment of doubt may leadto a more critical examination. Techniques andconstraints are reassuring and form guidelinesofsorts, but these are parameters that concernthe maker rather than the user. Sometimes oneof us is very much inside the project while theother maintains some distance, which allowshim to see more clearly, because he doesn't getconfused by the details.'b

ped theirive careers.

Mendelewitsch P o R T R Alr s ValentinFougeray

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THEBOUROULLEC

BROTHERS

1971Ronan Bouroullec born

in Quimper, Brittany

1976Erwan Bouroullec born

in Quimpet Brittany

1997Spotted by Cappellini and

commissioned for their firstindustrial-design projects

1999Begin working together

in Paris

2001Hold first solo show

at Galerie KreoMeet Rolf Felhbaum,

president of Vitra, and workon new office system Joyn

2002Stage the Ronan & ErwanBouroullec exhibition at

London's Design Museum

2003Publish their first

monograph with Phaidon

2011Mount the Bivouacexhibition at CentrePompidou Metz and

Chicago's Museum ofContemporary Art

2015Hold Momentané exhibition

at Musee des ArtsDécoratifs in ParisUnveil the Gabriel

Chandelier, the firstpermanent contemPorarY

piece installed in the Palaceof Versailles

2015Present 17 Screens

installation at Tel AvivMuseum of Art

Release Serif TV forSamsung

PORTRAITS

I EB: 'The real challenge ofdesign is to learnhow to distance oneself while maintainingcontrol. The fact that we're a duo brings analmost schizophrenic dimension to our work.'

'We learned a lot from Giulio Cappellini. He'sone of the first people who really listenedto us and entrusted us with projects. I'minspired by his intuition and by the way he'swrapped himself up in the Italian industrywhile maintaining a bold vision. He once toldus that he never has bestsellers but longsellers.Many of his products weren't quick to sell butwould find their "customer" later and establishthemselves over a longer period. We've neverforgotten this example.'

'Rolf Fehlbaum ofVitra also taught us a lot'In a way) you could compare him to a footballcoach; he helped us to improve and develop.When we started working together' he asked usto conceive office furniture' even though we'dnever worked in a large office before. We wereable to research an unfamiliar environmentwith an almost naive state of mind. As soonas we completed foyn, our first product forVitra, Rolf emphasized the need to maintainingenuity. We continually try to follow hisadvice and keep a certain "unprofessionalism"and naivety in our practice. Everyone at ourstudio is young; it's often their first job.'

'Prototypers) technicians and engineers havetaught me a lot - but you have to collaboratewith them in a subtle way. Some of them canbe reluctant to oppose our vision or to tell uswhatthey really think. They can be closed offand hard to move. I recently understood theneed to envision a part ofour work as a harvestofknowledge, techniques and flavours. Ifwecan't hear or broaden a technician's opinions,the "harvest" idea is lost' There are many waysto do this, but simple handmade prototypes andsketches often open up the discussion morethan technical documents or 3D models can do.'

'It's impossible to work without an awarenessof history. The older we getr the more we see

design as a Darwinian phenomenon.'

'Because I studied fine arts, real designinfluences came to me later on' In a way,I have a polar view of design. I was impressedby the Americans, who had a joyful andpositive way of addressing the largestaudience through industrial production,Examples are Hans and Florence Knoll,George Nelson, Eero Saarinen and, ofcourse,Charles and Ray Eames. Their work wastypical of the American optimism of the'6os.Italian designers came later: Ettore SottsasstAlessandro Mendini, Andrea Branzi and so on.

Their punk approach was a real provocationagainst bourgeois common sense.'

RB: 'We're fascinated by the structure ofvegetation. The organic - the logic andperformance of the living - is so compelling.Plants often provide inspiration for structuralresearch, although the results never try tomimic nature. But sometimes we seek somesort of opposition to constructed space - to the

flat, orthogonal, monochromatic environment.We lool< for an almost animistic presence.'

EB: 'The French culture wâs not quite readyfor the emergence of design as a practice.It remains very marked by t}:'e mobilier de

style, and for many design is just anothercontemporary "style". French manufacturersand craftsmen have begun to understand the

purpose of designers and to see designers as

people who conceive products with andforthem. We're facing quite a terrifying no-man's-land here. In places like Italy and the Nordiccountties, however, design is inherently partof the culture.'

'The fundamental role of design is to giveshape to culture. When you visit a museumdevoted to ancient civilization, design - morespecifically: the shape ofeveryday tools,weapons) jewellery and the like - is often theonly thing that remains. Being able to standthe test of time means that those tools are

technically perfect and were useful, but on top

of that you see the people behind them.Yot see

their humanity and can determine, therefore,the shape of their culture.'

'Formany, designis

'The challenge is to re-establish a commonunderstanding between manufacturers andusers, as these two parties are becomingincreasingly detached from each other.'

'Most of the companies we work with sharea r97os vision. It's home-oriented, based onsustainable domestic environments that barelychange. When it comes to ecology, the ideaof indestructible pieces of furniture that willlast forever is essential. We don't want ourobjects to grow old or to be tied to a particulartime period. The design of the '9os focusedon screaming about deep change and a newaesthetic: a conception that gave birth tonoisy objects that were too specific to agein harmony.'

'Alcove, a sofa for Vitra[zoo7l, is one of ourmost successful projects, because it goesbeyond the idea of a simple piece of furniture;it also organizes space. Alcove is the bestsummary of our Lit Clos [a sleeping cabinmanufactured by Cappellini in zoool; theconcept is almost the same. But Lit Closdidn't sell at the time.'

'In our opinion, design can be shown ingalleries, too. The gallery is an interestingplace to remove oneself from the extremelyrational framework of industrial production,to look for new paths or simply to expressapproaches that are too radical for large-scaleproduction. Of course, since we're in a timeofhypervelocity and the "starification" ofdesigners, the legitimacy of the gallery can bequestioned. In our case, though, we feel thatthe gallery is a necessary place to work - itgoes hand in hand with the more traditionalpractice of product design.'

'For us, art feels like a surgical operation.Design, on the other hand, is akin to a form

::i::::::"J"':

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ScreenPl ayErwanand RonanBouroullecpl"y withproverbialfire and iceln France

R E N N E s -'ln a way, we could comparedesign to cooking. The challenge is to getthe most out of pre-existing flavours, toreveal them. Those flavours are often foundin materials and techniques,'says ErwanBouroullec from the studio he shares withhis brother in Paris, just a stone's throw awayfrom the location of recent attacks on thecity. 'Our approach to 17 Screens was quitesimilar: it's a quest for sensations stemmingfrom the deliberately extreme mix ofmaterials such as glass, ceramic, textile andaluminium, What we tried to emphasize is theelasticity between materials, between thingsthat don't necessarily fit together.'

After a stop at the Tel Aviv Museumol Art,17 Screens was transported to Rennes,Brittany, the region that Erwan and RonanBouroullec call home. The installation is partof a vast threefold exhibition in which threevenues - Frac Bretagne, Les Champs Libresand the Parliament of Bretagne - are unitingto celebrate /es enfonfs du poys,

The modular wall systems featuredin 17 Screens form a meandering path, a sortof urban dreamscape whose compositionsuggests the abstracted geometry producedby a prism. Individual partitions seem tomeld together in a fluidly poetic way, andsound and light add to the atmosphere.'Once again, we stress the importance ofthe screens, of their psychological influenceon those who are confronted with them,on those who have to deal with theirpermeability,' says Erwan. 'lt's fascinating toimagine lying on either side of such heavyand imposing elements, which could be tornapart within a few seconds.'- MM

As part of a wider exhibition of the Bouroullecs'work,17 Screens will appear at Frac Bretagne in Rennes,France, from 25 March through 28 August 2015bouroullec.com

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190 REPORTS

Press,Weighing less than 5 kg, Stampa hasa delicate aluminium shell resting onslender legs. The design is a clevercombination of high and low tech.

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Kettal's Stampareveals the latest inaluminium technology:the transformation ofsheet metal into a coolperforated'textile' forwarm days.woRDs AdrianMadlener

W I T H its mind set on producing a designclassic, Spanish outdoor-furniture brandKettal joined forces with French duo Ronanand Erwan Bouroullec for the company'slatest offering: Stampa. The outdoor chairpushes the properties of aluminium, thanksto a cutting-edge technology that transformssheet metal into a material with an openworkdesign. Durable yet delicate, the chair has a

duality that doesn't stop there. 'The idea wasto make a comfortable, long-lasting chair thatcouldn't be copied,'says Ronan Bouroullec.'Stampa had to be both charming and calm.'With a vote of confidence from Kettal. thePerch

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