September in Paris is marked by the hallowed Design Week. As its name suggests, it is a week dedicated to all design practices, organised around the Maison et Objets trade fair and the galleries of central Paris. A privileged moment to exhibit, showcase and promote the latest creations from the sector’s talents.
And in these times of ecological crisis, it is increasingly important to take account of the environmental impact of architectural and design production. That is why we decided to speak with Paul Marchesseau, founder of Emilieu Studio, who creates architecture based on reuse and develops an engaged practice deeply rooted in our times.
An opportunity to explore forgotten practices such as decorative painting, which offers alternatives to producing new materials, while also discussing the role of clothing in a profession at the crossroads of different sectors.
Your design and interior architecture practice is mixed, and has been built from the outset around the importance of reuse and environmental issues. Tell us a little about the origins of your work and its applications.
I created a design and interior architecture agency called Emilieu Studio, through which we also conduct research via an integrated think tank. It involves working on environmental, social and political issues, always in connection with architecture and design. The underlying idea is always to link theory and practice. As designers, it is important to think about a “terrestrial design” by connecting with reality. We therefore undertake event-related projects, such as scenography, preferably public projects. Because it is the impact of architecture that interests me: whether in welcoming people, working conditions, or how everyone inhabits and is influenced by space. The construction of a space always shapes how individuals live and see the world.
My parents worked in organic farming, and I have always been impressed by their way of seeing things. My father worked in a mill made from 80% reused materials, and I quickly understood the possibilities and influence of the work of people campaigning on these issues.
So design practice can be linked to reuse and ecology in both form and substance. A few years ago, with the artist Yann Toma, we designed an energy installation for COP21 on the Eiffel Tower. Last year, we had the opportunity to work on the new Camondo Méditerranée school – a leading interior architecture school – which we built in harmony with the local area and using 90% reused materials – that is, materials already in existence. Today more than ever, architecture must be conceived with as little new production as possible.
So your practice is very much centred on reuse, and you have also explored this technique through textiles…
Yes, we recently supported a festival called RRRecycle, which aimed to take a broader look at the issues of reuse, recycling and repair in design in the broad sense. We brought in figures working in textiles as well as historians. We needed to demystify contemporary reuse and upcycling movements, which have in fact existed for decades, and show that these techniques can and must be updated. New practices are emerging and creating new professions, such as shoemaking, which is now adapting to trainers.
Rag recycling has existed since the 19th century. At the time, old textiles were also recycled to create imitation velvet and thus make luxurious fabrics accessible to a social class that could not afford these specific fabrics. So even then, recycling was used to make imitations of textiles or tapestries.
I also worked with textiles for a project funded by the Fondation Hermès: the Agora du Design at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal. The challenge was to create an entirely reversible project using textile printing; the textiles were then reused as fashion accessories. We did not simply want to send the material to an association, but rather make the most of the offcuts and show concrete prototypes of bags made “from the exhibition offcuts”.
Everything is conceived to create a new object, and textiles are an easy material to reuse.
As part of Design Week, you have this Agora du Design project and other projects linked to reuse?
Yes, we created this scenography for the Agora du Design at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, and we are presenting a furniture collection at the Saint-Ouen flea market, also made from reused materials. These are pieces of furniture painted using decorative painting techniques, intended to imitate faux marble.
What exactly is decorative painting?
Decorative painting is a technique dating from the late 19th century that involves studying a material in all its texture in order to reproduce it faithfully in paint. It is widely used in interior architecture to imitate marble or wood, for example. It is also used extensively for film sets. In my practice, it is truly about choosing not to extract real materials and not needing to transport anything.
Interior architecture and design are professions at the crossroads of several fields, worlds and formal frameworks; what place do clothing and dress have in this work?
Architecture has historically been a very male profession, as women unfortunately had little access to these studies. Professionals therefore often wore suits. Since then, the practice has become more democratic and ornament has been stripped away. Architects have “undressed” architecture; they are often minimalist, dressed in black or white. This still endures in the discipline, and those who see themselves as countercultural often express it by dressing in the opposite way. By wearing lots of colour, like Patrick Bouchain, for example. They represent themselves by dressing differently.
Design is somewhat different because it is a younger, more engineering-oriented profession. It is a fairly structured profession, where people often dress according to fashion trends. Sportswear, rigid style, shirt-trousers: it all depends on the sectors in which one works. In the luxury world, it is more formal, but design remains a discipline linked to urban life.
So you cannot wear just anything when you are an architect?
No, well, it really depends on your clientele. They shape your style, because there is real work of representation involved. We dress in relation to the aesthetic we are going to propose. Some, such as Vincent Darré, dress in a rather eccentric way because their architecture is too. We represent what we are going to do.
So some designers use their personal image to “sell” their architecture?
Yes, because when looking for an interior architect, people often seek a personality that matches their expectations for the project. It all depends on the type of architecture. If one works in property, one will look for someone who can also handle engineering and project management.
Image and freedom of dress therefore depend greatly on the circles one moves in. Personally, I move in fairly broad circles. When I visit clients in conventional property, I tend to opt for a fairly fitted blue shirt with denim trousers and trainers, for example. For less formal clients, I might wear a more relaxed, open corduroy shirt, or a t-shirt, with lightweight wide-leg trousers.
And where do you store your clothes? Are your shirts neatly folded?
People often say that the shoemaker’s children go barefoot. That is certainly true of me! My shirts are badly folded or hung on hangers and ironed on the day itself, depending on my appointments. I change them several times too. On the other hand, I clearly separate jackets from shirts. To find my way around more easily, as I have rather too many blue shirts, I need to distinguish them!