Stories Christophe Pillet talks about Echoes Text by Marilena Sobacchi Add to bookmarks A chair that blends quality and emotion to withstand time and fashion Describe Echoes in just a few words. My objects are always deliberate expressions of great simplicity: Echoes, for example, is a series of linear, sleek chairs, which combine a rigorous metal frame and a fine woven paper rush cord for the seat and backrest; a complicated process that draws on ancient traditions. What were you trying to achieve? My concept of design is based on the principle that the value of the object, its quality, its uniqueness, its seductiveness don’t depend on the originality or extravagance of the design, but on the quality of the craftsmanship. In Echoes this is borne out by the hand-woven seat and backrest and the sinuosity of its lines. My design can be summed up as a quest for the balance, the quality that a product can emanate and the emotions that it will trigger. Was the creative concept the cornerstone of this project, from which everything else derives? Yes, absolutely. When I am designing new products I always think about the space into which they’ll fit – what’s important in design is not the object in its own right, but the human being who inhabits it and who will be using the object, which will become part of the background to his or her life. The same is true of the concept of beauty associated with the object – beauty obviously counts, but it also needs to be discreet. What sort of relationship was generated between you and Echoes? Echoes, along with Any Day and First Steps, was my first collaboration with Flexform. The Flexform style reflects my own concept of elegance, never overly flashy design and that’s why I immediately found my place inside what was already a large collection. In ten years Echoes will be a tangible sign of a collaboration I’m extremely happy with and proud of. How and where can we imagine this product in ten years’ time? In ten years, Echoes will be a tangible sign of a collaboration I am extremely happy with and proud of. Given that the underlying concept with my products is bound up with their use in the space into which they have been placed, Echoes will remain a very contemporary product, whether it is tomorrow or in ten years’ time, triggering genuine emotions in everyday life. 19 August 2021 Share See AlsoOther Articles Salone Selection The 100 new additions to the Salone Library, between harnessing Light, Thought and Design A recent project, launched last year, which always arouses great interest, the Salone Library has acquired 100 new books, all suggested by key speakers and panellists taking part in the Salone 2025 Cultural Programme Vlatka Zanoletti Exhibitions The new lights, in the name of innovation and aesthetic research With refined styling and cutting-edge technologies, the most recent offerings in lighting blur the boundaries between design, functionality and art Marilena Pitino Stories 10 Places to visit where architecture is on display A selection of cultural events to mark in your diary, in Italy and around the world Serena Scarpello
Salone Selection The 100 new additions to the Salone Library, between harnessing Light, Thought and Design A recent project, launched last year, which always arouses great interest, the Salone Library has acquired 100 new books, all suggested by key speakers and panellists taking part in the Salone 2025 Cultural Programme Vlatka Zanoletti
Exhibitions The new lights, in the name of innovation and aesthetic research With refined styling and cutting-edge technologies, the most recent offerings in lighting blur the boundaries between design, functionality and art Marilena Pitino
Stories 10 Places to visit where architecture is on display A selection of cultural events to mark in your diary, in Italy and around the world Serena Scarpello