“Design is an integral part of our everyday” – An interview with Pascal Gentil from the Innovathèque

Pascal Gentil, Head of the Technical Department at the Innovathèque – a French resource center for innovative materials – is an expert in innovative materials. He supervised the éKosse project devised by Caroline Saier, Master’s student in the Mutations of the Built Environment Program. Catherine Bouvard, Curriculum Course Leader, asked Pascal Gentil about the activities offered at the Innovathèque, current issues involving materials and the interaction between this field and design.

Pascal Gentil, Head of the Technical Department at the Innovathèque

Innovathèque: Seeking Alternative Solutions Rooted in Eco-Design

Catherine Bouvard: The Innovathèque was founded to answer to the expectations of professionals in the furnishings industry. Can you tell us more about this structure?

Pascal Gentil: The Innovathèque is an in-house department at the Technological Institute for Forestry, Cellulose, Wood Building and Furnishing (FCBA). It has been part of this 360-employee technical center for the past decade. The FCBA was created to meet the needs of furniture manufacturers.

Catherine Bouvard: Have these needs evolved over time?

Pascal Gentil: Yes. Our ongoing monitoring has paved the way to building relationships with those in other lines of business, who now, also, turn to us for advice. As a result, our database boasting over 17,000 different material samples can provide food for thought to professionals from different fields.

Catherine Bouvard: What do you think is hiding behind this evolution in your client base?

Pascal Gentil: A tendency to transpose materials. For instance, car manufacturers have taken an interest in bio-based materials. Since our technical center is specialized in the “wood” industry, manufacturers have focused on wood and its car-compatible side products. The other way round, furniture professionals are quite interested in automotive technology; they are eager to learn how car seats are made, what type of upholstering is used, etc. In fact, we play the part of an information center disposing of technologies that can be transposed from one industry to another.

Catherine Bouvard: Why is innovation promoted so much today?

Pascal Gentil: I think mankind has always innovated, and should continue to do so. At the Innovathèque, we monitor trends on an international scale, and we select those materials that seem the most relevant to us. We do this, first and foremost, to benefit furniture manufacturers as well as creative professionals, interior decorators, designers and players from other industrial fields.

Catherine Bouvard: What kinds of requests do you get from these professionals?

Pascal Gentil: We get all sorts. The furnishings sector is divided up into three major categories: seats, tables and storage. Each group is faced with its own set of issues. For instance, a seat manufacturer is on the lookout for new upholstering solutions, stretchable, self-supporting fabrics, thinner, more resilient structures. Table manufactures, in contrast, are in search of lighter and less expensive tabletops. On the storage front, the demand is centered more on door-articulating mechanisms and smart closing systems. Despite these differences in demand, a mutual concern can be observed: In what way may environmental impact be assessed? In other words, how do we select various materials likely to be integrated in an eco-design process and on what criteria?

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