Christophe Pillet talks about Echoes
A chair that blends quality and emotion to withstand time and fashion
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
