“Through pleasure an object is formed,” commented France’s star industrial and interior architect designer, Patrick Jouin whose obvious appreciation of gastronomy lead to a decade long collaboration with French legendary chef Alain Ducasse and informed his many designs for sleek culinary products.
Jouin’s first solo exhibition in New York “Patrick Jouin: Gesture and Design” at the Museum of Art and Design latest MADProject through February 11, 2011, focuses on culinary items ranging from the Zermatt flatware for Puiforcat, a plastic champagne bucket and saber for G.H. Mumm, tableware for La Faiencerie de Gien, as well as carbon chairs for Alain Ducasse’s Le Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower (one of several star restaurants in the Ducasse orbit whose opulent interiors Jouin designed) and the Pasta Pot with attached spoon for Alessi.
The theme for “Design and Gesture” explores the parallel relationship of function and form key to Jouin’s approach that is illustrated in a clever multimedia installation starting with a disengaged (from the body) hand to demonstrate the nature of a gesture – taking a dish from preparation to service. Landmark pieces too are on view from the Optic storage cubes for Kartell to the edgy hi tech Solid series of chairs, tables, stools, and the Ether chandelier with its cascading Murano blown glass bubbles for Leuos/FDV collection are among the iconic items.
Jouin’s experimentation with technology transformed manufacturing techniques created a new aesthetics to become a hallmark of his oeuvre. With a diverse portfolio – street furniture for the City of Paris, hotel and retail interiors, lamps, exhibition spaces, and more recently residential architecture with his partner Sanjit Manku, Jouin’s omnipresence on the international design scene is assured.
His arrival for the opening of the exhibition offered an opportunity for VandM.com to query Jouin on his design philosophy.
VandM.com: You mentioned, “good design is based not only on aesthetics, but on function, usage, and gesture.” We selected three objects for a closer look that feature at least one if not all three elements: the REED (2010) for Leucos/FDV collection; the Solid polyurethane and resin chair series (2004) and the Bloom lamp (2010), both for .MGX by Materialise, Belgium.
PJ: For the MAD lobby, the idea was to create tension between the installation and the emptiness of the space. We collaborated with Leucos to create an installation with the REED suspension. These glass tubes of varying heights enclose as much as they illuminate enabling us to arrange different ‘worlds’ metaphorically. They can be hung separately or in groupings. The design is similar to a Lego set. It opens up infinite light possibilities.
VandM.com: What prompted you to experiment with rapid prototyping?
PJ: I began collaborating with the Belgium company Materialise that used 3D rapid prototyping for small-scale models, so for full-scale furnishings, I needed to push the boundaries of the technology. It was not easy to invent and the end product was a surprise. The result was a lightweight but durable material using the process steroeolithography.
VandM.com: The Bloom lamp appears technically complex, but combines all the elements function, form, usage, and beautiful aesthetics.
PJ: We went a step further with 3D technologies. Super complex pieces are related and articulated so that the shade collapses and expands to release or contain light. Made from one piece with a Selective Laser Sinter Nylon that gives flexibility. [Editor’s note: The Bloom lamp is the Winner of the 2010 Good Design Award.]
