AZURE_2014_09.pdf

← Hanger Chair, made of Baltic
birch plywood, is among the
inaugural products for the Umbra
Shift collection, launched in New
York in May.
↑ The studio is dominated by
work benches and array of tools.
Says Malouin about his process:
“Mixing up materials is a good
way to experiment.”
Milan design week. He and Feldkamp only knew that they wanted to use
a stiff fabric. “But how do you make fabric stiff?” he asks. “We tried laminating
it, but that was too flat. Then we put resin on it, rolled it and
vacuum-bagged it.” By morning, the material was hard, but it lacked the
tautness required for furniture. “So we put a loop on an upside-down
bucket and rolled it down like you would with your socks. The shape just
happened.” That shape became Hardie Stool, made of nothing but fabric
and glue, with stiff fabric legs. “It was all about ‘Okay, we have this problem.
How do we solve it?’” he says.
These stories – of conjuring a stool from fabric, or a couch from a chunk
of foam (Established & Sons is rolling out the chubby Mollo armchair, which
has no internal support), or slip-cast ceramics inspired by sand piles (for
the five-generations-old North Staffordshire pottery company 1882 Ltd.)
– are of design as exploration rather than expectation. It usually starts not
with an idea but with playing around, just like he did in his dad’s workshop.
For his next project, Malouin is visiting a stone manufacturer in Tel Aviv.
“They want us to take a look at their slabs, then try some stuff,” he says. As
always, he doesn’t know yet what will come of it. philippemalouin. com
PHOTO (top) BY marius hansen
68 sept 2014 azuremagazine.com