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

Her approach echoes the current craze for stories and biographies of objects upon which historians and anthropologists muse as they imagine the many lives of objects in their common and symbolic meanings that follow the ebb and flow of both social and temporal contexts (see, for instance, the works by anthropologist Thierry Bonnot). She also refers to current issues in design, where objects are created based on user-experience-oriented research.

Wear and Tear

This notion of experience and relationship to objects over time triggered much thought about materials seen as a preferred contact with objects and wear and tear as a “weakness.” Marking life events and the interaction between users and the armchair, can wear and tear be acknowledged as a true value and sustainable factor rather than a reason for disposing of a product? A related issue is the designer’s responsibility toward the environment. However, Caroline Saier’s primary objective is to account for the wear and tear element right from the design process as a reflection of the complicity between an object and its user.

A Well-Seated Project

Though the end result of her research, it is, ultimately, the armchair that shaped and guided the process. When you sit down on “éKosse” the first thing you feel is the knitted fabric, exposing the “handmade” element and reminiscent of these raggedy, out-of-shape sweaters that end up as rags. As the armchair is used, the wear of the knitted top layer prompts the degradation of a second layer composed of a honeycomb structure (a mix of non-woven and thermoplastic fibers) mounted on a latex foam and natural hemp fiber base. As time goes by, the armchair’s comfort becomes one with the shapes left by its users, leaving behind both a trace and memory.

Trend

Knitting has come back into fashion as we can observe today (associations, artistic actions, interventions in urban environments). It seems as if people are compelled to revert to an outdated activity within this overly “high-tech” world in order to reconnect with less dehumanized techniques. The little, knitted, mobile phone socks you see all over the place these days say a lot about the social trend in which Caroline Saier’s work took root.

Read Jocelyne Le Boeuf’s blog Design et Histoires

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