Access the press kit - Sophie Mallebranche
Transcription
Access the press kit - Sophie Mallebranche
PRESS KIT Material Design Group SAS SUMMARY Material Design Group SAS P4 INTRODUCTION P8 P10 P12 P18 OFFER BESPOKE CREATIONS INSPIRATION THE ESSENTIALS P22 P26 P30 P32 THE NATURALS PARTNERSHIPS 2 THE ULTRA-CHROMATICS BIOGRAPHY P34 ADDRESSES 3 SUMMARY Material Design Group SAS P4 INTRODUCTION P8 P10 P12 P18 OFFER BESPOKE CREATIONS INSPIRATION THE ESSENTIALS P22 P26 P30 P32 THE NATURALS PARTNERSHIPS 2 THE ULTRA-CHROMATICS BIOGRAPHY P34 ADDRESSES 3 INTRODUCTION Material Design Group SAS Sophie Mallebranche A DESIGN ALCHEMIST SOPHIE MALLEBRANCHE TRANSMUTES METAL INTO TEXTILE. A WEAVING PROCESS THAT TURNS ALLOYS AND MINERALS INTO SOURCES OF LIGHT, SOMETIMES SUPERSATURATED IN COLORS. THEY ARE ABOUT TO COMPLETELY TRANSFORM OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, ON A LARGE SCALE, INDOORS AND OUTDOORS. Since 1998, in her workshop, Sophie Mallebranche’s creations are akin to primary arts: architecture, sculpture and painting. Her stainless steel, tin, brass and bronze weaves, combined with silicone, silk or linen threads, play with the materials and their in- 4 trinsic proprieties so as to reshape space, sculpt light and release the fantastic possibilities of color. 5 INTRODUCTION Material Design Group SAS Sophie Mallebranche A DESIGN ALCHEMIST SOPHIE MALLEBRANCHE TRANSMUTES METAL INTO TEXTILE. A WEAVING PROCESS THAT TURNS ALLOYS AND MINERALS INTO SOURCES OF LIGHT, SOMETIMES SUPERSATURATED IN COLORS. THEY ARE ABOUT TO COMPLETELY TRANSFORM OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, ON A LARGE SCALE, INDOORS AND OUTDOORS. Since 1998, in her workshop, Sophie Mallebranche’s creations are akin to primary arts: architecture, sculpture and painting. Her stainless steel, tin, brass and bronze weaves, combined with silicone, silk or linen threads, play with the materials and their in- 4 trinsic proprieties so as to reshape space, sculpt light and release the fantastic possibilities of color. 5 OFFER Material Design Group SAS FRENCH MADE PRODUCTS, USING EXLUSIVELY METAL MATERIALS Sophie Mallebranche offers a range of about fifty models of 100 %, naturally non inflammable metal (M1/BS1d0). Her collection is divided into three color ranges: the essentials (a dozen references) which include grey, pearl white, champagne, warm gold, black; the naturals (twenty references), which enrich the essentials with satiny grey colors of silver, shades of copper, coffee, brown and dark brown; and finally, the ultra-chromatics (twenty-two references). As Chanel, each product is identified by a specific number. Even numbers refer to regular weaves, odd numbers to irregular weaves. The no.93 is her catalogue’s last reference. It is an irregular ultra-chromatic. Her materials are designed as much for interior applications as they are for exterior ones, thanks to the enameled wires. The warp, or stainless steel strand is a micro-cable, a coil of monofilaments. The weft is made up of silverplated and enameled copper monofilaments. The copper is used for its “weavability”. The silver protects the copper and serves as a neutral basis for the dyeing. And lastly, the enamel serves as a protection against UVs, scratches... 6 Opposite and below: Handmade models Special creations 7 OFFER Material Design Group SAS FRENCH MADE PRODUCTS, USING EXLUSIVELY METAL MATERIALS Sophie Mallebranche offers a range of about fifty models of 100 %, naturally non inflammable metal (M1/BS1d0). Her collection is divided into three color ranges: the essentials (a dozen references) which include grey, pearl white, champagne, warm gold, black; the naturals (twenty references), which enrich the essentials with satiny grey colors of silver, shades of copper, coffee, brown and dark brown; and finally, the ultra-chromatics (twenty-two references). As Chanel, each product is identified by a specific number. Even numbers refer to regular weaves, odd numbers to irregular weaves. The no.93 is her catalogue’s last reference. It is an irregular ultra-chromatic. Her materials are designed as much for interior applications as they are for exterior ones, thanks to the enameled wires. The warp, or stainless steel strand is a micro-cable, a coil of monofilaments. The weft is made up of silverplated and enameled copper monofilaments. The copper is used for its “weavability”. The silver protects the copper and serves as a neutral basis for the dyeing. And lastly, the enamel serves as a protection against UVs, scratches... 6 Opposite and below: Handmade models Special creations 7 OFFER Material Design Group SAS Opposite and below: Handmade models Special creations AN OFFER OF 100 % FRENCH-MADE, 100 % METAL PRODUCTS Special orders are not listed in the collections. It is one thing for the human eye to be able to perceive 10 000 references, another one to name all of them! Sophie Mallebranche’s work as a colorist has brought her to propose a range of 900 Pantone reference colors. Sophie is currently developing two new collections. The first one for more architectural and monumental applications, a much more technical dimension which will enable, for example, the cladding of a building. In contrast, the second collection is dedicated to much more feminine applications: combinations of natural fibers, with a very fine and aerial execution – so evanescent that it is almost immaterial. 8 9 OFFER Material Design Group SAS Opposite and below: Handmade models Special creations AN OFFER OF 100 % FRENCH-MADE, 100 % METAL PRODUCTS Special orders are not listed in the collections. It is one thing for the human eye to be able to perceive 10 000 references, another one to name all of them! Sophie Mallebranche’s work as a colorist has brought her to propose a range of 900 Pantone reference colors. Sophie is currently developing two new collections. The first one for more architectural and monumental applications, a much more technical dimension which will enable, for example, the cladding of a building. In contrast, the second collection is dedicated to much more feminine applications: combinations of natural fibers, with a very fine and aerial execution – so evanescent that it is almost immaterial. 8 9 INSPIRATION Material Design Group SAS FROM ALCHEMICAL DESIGN TO INDUSTRIAL BESPOKE CREATIONS IT IS A CHEERFUL FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE, THAT FALLS INTO THE SEA. IT IS CALLED THE FLOWERY COAST [CÔTE FLEURIE]. AT THE SEINE’S MOUTH, HONFLEUR. AND IN FRONT OF HONFLEUR, LE HAVRE. IN HONFLEUR, THERE IS BAUDELAIRE’S “TOY HOUSE”, THE DOCKS, THE IMPRESSIONISTS AND ERIK SATIE’S REPETITIVE SCORES. IN LE HAVRE, IMPRESSIONIST CANVASES, AT THE DOCKS, THE PROMISE OF NEW HORIZONS. FINALLY, THE “CHANGING COLORATIONS OF THE SEA”, SET OFF BY CARGO STEAMS. Below: Pieces in the shape of Pears Erik Satie 10 Sophie Mallebranche was born in 1976 in Honfleur, in the midst of a sound gastronomic culture. Sophie always says that her passion for metal bloomed just like she did, in the clutter of the gleaming kitchen utensils, the blinding reflections of the copper cooking-range. Not really enough to become a pioneer textile designer, a matter designer, or simply a designer, a creator. For the innovative warp wires, that are horizontally stretched by Material Design Group’s ingenious production equipment, are like the piano wires in the Satie House in Honfleur, tirelessly repeating the composer’s musical motifs. The weaving loom’s repetition, the support of this creation, opens staggering prospects of imagination. USING METAL To bid farewell to macramé and cotton fabric, Sophie Mallebranche had to break quite a few weaving looms. “We would add splints on the machine just like one glues patches on a tube. Breaking weaving looms taught me how to delegate. I would go to others to have things made.” Above Sophie Mallebranche Atelier Rue des Gardes © Carlos Munuoz Yague Opposite: The Maison Toiles de Mayenne Atelier 11 INSPIRATION Material Design Group SAS FROM ALCHEMICAL DESIGN TO INDUSTRIAL BESPOKE CREATIONS IT IS A CHEERFUL FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE, THAT FALLS INTO THE SEA. IT IS CALLED THE FLOWERY COAST [CÔTE FLEURIE]. AT THE SEINE’S MOUTH, HONFLEUR. AND IN FRONT OF HONFLEUR, LE HAVRE. IN HONFLEUR, THERE IS BAUDELAIRE’S “TOY HOUSE”, THE DOCKS, THE IMPRESSIONISTS AND ERIK SATIE’S REPETITIVE SCORES. IN LE HAVRE, IMPRESSIONIST CANVASES, AT THE DOCKS, THE PROMISE OF NEW HORIZONS. FINALLY, THE “CHANGING COLORATIONS OF THE SEA”, SET OFF BY CARGO STEAMS. Below: Pieces in the shape of Pears Erik Satie 10 Sophie Mallebranche was born in 1976 in Honfleur, in the midst of a sound gastronomic culture. Sophie always says that her passion for metal bloomed just like she did, in the clutter of the gleaming kitchen utensils, the blinding reflections of the copper cooking-range. Not really enough to become a pioneer textile designer, a matter designer, or simply a designer, a creator. For the innovative warp wires, that are horizontally stretched by Material Design Group’s ingenious production equipment, are like the piano wires in the Satie House in Honfleur, tirelessly repeating the composer’s musical motifs. The weaving loom’s repetition, the support of this creation, opens staggering prospects of imagination. USING METAL To bid farewell to macramé and cotton fabric, Sophie Mallebranche had to break quite a few weaving looms. “We would add splints on the machine just like one glues patches on a tube. Breaking weaving looms taught me how to delegate. I would go to others to have things made.” Above Sophie Mallebranche Atelier Rue des Gardes © Carlos Munuoz Yague Opposite: The Maison Toiles de Mayenne Atelier 11 BESPOKE CREATIONS Material Design Group SAS IN PRAISE OF SUPERABUNDANCE Applied creation for Guerlain. The director of the House’s merchandising department wanted a golden material to cover her space. A conceptual creation that embodied itself in the space it was offered. Sophie Mallebranche first worked as a colorist on pale gold, 18 and 24 carat gold, in order to find the good relationship between warm and cool gold. The gigantic lampshade is first covered with a chromed film, to give it a mirror effect. The weave must have enough of an openwork design to allow the reflection of the material in the chrome. Its movement should also spark off, without obstructing it, the vibration of the mirror through the relations between the various depths. The spectacular application conjures up superabundance. It is the Guerlain gold. A TRANSPARENT PRAISE Residential project on Astor Place. Master-builder:Kris Lajeskie Design. The nearly-invisible matter is revealed by light. A transparent praise to the verticality of the breathtaking view on Southern Manhattan – the metallic fabric of New York architecture. 12 A throbbing movement, a hermetic, alchemical thinking in which the intellect replaces God, the transformation of metal is the ultimate expression of transcendence. How could we not consider Sophie Mallebranche’s weaving loom a stringed instrument – enameled wires, made in Switzerland – whose frame, the rhythmic score of the industrial and yet bespoke compositions, eradicates the ugliness of the world? Doing so outdoors, by covering surfaces with a new monumental symbolism – as well as resacralizing interiors. “In Dior, there is God and Gold” [“Dans Dior, il y a Dieu et or“], once said Jean Cocteau. Sophie works for Dior, as well as for Chanel, Guerlain, Balenciaga. A natural association with luxury houses, for in these cathedral-like flagships and chapel-like corners, light (lux) is elevation. Above: Guerlain Flagship, Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, Paris On the right: Astor Place, New York. Kris Lajeskie Design 13 BESPOKE CREATIONS Material Design Group SAS IN PRAISE OF SUPERABUNDANCE Applied creation for Guerlain. The director of the House’s merchandising department wanted a golden material to cover her space. A conceptual creation that embodied itself in the space it was offered. Sophie Mallebranche first worked as a colorist on pale gold, 18 and 24 carat gold, in order to find the good relationship between warm and cool gold. The gigantic lampshade is first covered with a chromed film, to give it a mirror effect. The weave must have enough of an openwork design to allow the reflection of the material in the chrome. Its movement should also spark off, without obstructing it, the vibration of the mirror through the relations between the various depths. The spectacular application conjures up superabundance. It is the Guerlain gold. A TRANSPARENT PRAISE Residential project on Astor Place. Master-builder:Kris Lajeskie Design. The nearly-invisible matter is revealed by light. A transparent praise to the verticality of the breathtaking view on Southern Manhattan – the metallic fabric of New York architecture. 12 A throbbing movement, a hermetic, alchemical thinking in which the intellect replaces God, the transformation of metal is the ultimate expression of transcendence. How could we not consider Sophie Mallebranche’s weaving loom a stringed instrument – enameled wires, made in Switzerland – whose frame, the rhythmic score of the industrial and yet bespoke compositions, eradicates the ugliness of the world? Doing so outdoors, by covering surfaces with a new monumental symbolism – as well as resacralizing interiors. “In Dior, there is God and Gold” [“Dans Dior, il y a Dieu et or“], once said Jean Cocteau. Sophie works for Dior, as well as for Chanel, Guerlain, Balenciaga. A natural association with luxury houses, for in these cathedral-like flagships and chapel-like corners, light (lux) is elevation. Above: Guerlain Flagship, Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, Paris On the right: Astor Place, New York. Kris Lajeskie Design 13 BESPOKE CREATIONS Material Design Group SAS HAUTE-COUTURE DEDICATED TO PROJECTS. THE MEANS BY WHICH THESE CREATIONS SUPPORT AND ECHO THE BRAND’S UNIVERSE, STARTING FROM A CHARDONNAY, A TWEED OR A FRAGRANCE. CHRISTIAN DIOR PERFUMES Opposite: Christian Dior perfumes. New flagship concept 14 This is a fluid project, with a spectacular realization, that recalls the Hervé van der Straten collection of perfume bottles, as well as the various J’Adore juices. As in music, the emphasis is on repetition, the resonance of colors and how they are lit. A research in graphics, with anthracite as well as cool and warm gold. A true pleasure for the creator, who was inspired by Sol Lewitt’s conceptual work, who tries and actually manages to offer a chromatic approach to a fragrance, with a dozen threads, wires and various matters. A technical backing strengthens the woven metal, which enables to freely cut and paste this unique matter. Opposite: Christian Dior perfumes. New flagship concept 15 BESPOKE CREATIONS Material Design Group SAS HAUTE-COUTURE DEDICATED TO PROJECTS. THE MEANS BY WHICH THESE CREATIONS SUPPORT AND ECHO THE BRAND’S UNIVERSE, STARTING FROM A CHARDONNAY, A TWEED OR A FRAGRANCE. CHRISTIAN DIOR PERFUMES Opposite: Christian Dior perfumes. New flagship concept 14 This is a fluid project, with a spectacular realization, that recalls the Hervé van der Straten collection of perfume bottles, as well as the various J’Adore juices. As in music, the emphasis is on repetition, the resonance of colors and how they are lit. A research in graphics, with anthracite as well as cool and warm gold. A true pleasure for the creator, who was inspired by Sol Lewitt’s conceptual work, who tries and actually manages to offer a chromatic approach to a fragrance, with a dozen threads, wires and various matters. A technical backing strengthens the woven metal, which enables to freely cut and paste this unique matter. Opposite: Christian Dior perfumes. New flagship concept 15 BESPOKE CREATIONS Material Design Group SAS LAURENT PERRIER CHANEL JAPAN Brief: to invent a matter that recalls the voluptuousness of champagne. Sophie plays with a selection of wires, that range from bronze to warm gold. The final weave is a surprising execution, the pure product of research, a living and changing surface. The unexpected metamorphosis of a liquid into a relief that won over Laurent Perrier. For Peter Marino, Sophie Mallebranche supplied an important production of handmade samples, before adapting the manufacturing process to a broader scale. A technical transgression that goes beyond the textile universe. Sophie, while finding inspiration in the tweeds’ rhythm, incorporated another type of fiber: surgical silicone… The effect on the flagship’s façade was fantastic. Like a reversed rose window, that illuminated the exterior. Opposite and above: Special order for Laurent Perrier 16 Opposite and above: Chanel Boutique, Tokyo. Peter Marino Architect 17 BESPOKE CREATIONS Material Design Group SAS LAURENT PERRIER CHANEL JAPAN Brief: to invent a matter that recalls the voluptuousness of champagne. Sophie plays with a selection of wires, that range from bronze to warm gold. The final weave is a surprising execution, the pure product of research, a living and changing surface. The unexpected metamorphosis of a liquid into a relief that won over Laurent Perrier. For Peter Marino, Sophie Mallebranche supplied an important production of handmade samples, before adapting the manufacturing process to a broader scale. A technical transgression that goes beyond the textile universe. Sophie, while finding inspiration in the tweeds’ rhythm, incorporated another type of fiber: surgical silicone… The effect on the flagship’s façade was fantastic. Like a reversed rose window, that illuminated the exterior. Opposite and above: Special order for Laurent Perrier 16 Opposite and above: Chanel Boutique, Tokyo. Peter Marino Architect 17 THE ESSENTIALS Material Design Group SAS THE TRANSMUTATION OF METAL INTO SPIRITUAL GOLD Golden No.30 TODAY, WITHIN MATERIAL DESIGN GROUP, SOPHIE MALLEBRANCHE, ITS CO-FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, IS DEVELOPING ITS OFFER. IN THE MIDST OF THE MANY HORIZONTAL TREADLE LOOMS OF THE TWO-HUNDREDYEAR-OLD TOILES DE MAYENNE HOUSE (1806), THE MATERIAL DESIGN GROUP PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT OFFERS A STRIKING CONTRAST. THIS TRUE TECHNOLOGICAL UFO, TRANSFORMED INTO AN ATHANOR (THE ALCHEMICAL FURNACE), TRANSMUTES METAL INTO SPIRITUAL GOLD, ON A LARGE SCALE. IT BECOMES A TEXTILE, WHILE KEEPING THE MEMORY OF ITS FORM, ITS RESISTANCE… AN OFFER THAT THUS SPREADS FROM INDOORS TO OUTOORS, THANKS TO THE EXTENSION OF ITS METAL AND LIGHT WINGSPAN. From interior decoration, its innovative matters and designer creations migrate to corners and events, then façade design, following architects’ desires, who are won over by the broad field of its proprieties (fire-retardant, UV and humidity resistant…) and its aesthetic possibilities. In order to better seize the whole 18 Pearl white No.13 Champagne No.10 range of this creative activity, which can transcend the quality of objects, volumes and industrial processes, one must understand its poetics, its music, its colors, its roots. This is the fabric of Sophie Mallebranche’s craft, of her life and story. Middle grey No.3 Handmade sculpted model Black No.51 19 THE ESSENTIALS Material Design Group SAS THE TRANSMUTATION OF METAL INTO SPIRITUAL GOLD Golden No.30 TODAY, WITHIN MATERIAL DESIGN GROUP, SOPHIE MALLEBRANCHE, ITS CO-FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, IS DEVELOPING ITS OFFER. IN THE MIDST OF THE MANY HORIZONTAL TREADLE LOOMS OF THE TWO-HUNDREDYEAR-OLD TOILES DE MAYENNE HOUSE (1806), THE MATERIAL DESIGN GROUP PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT OFFERS A STRIKING CONTRAST. THIS TRUE TECHNOLOGICAL UFO, TRANSFORMED INTO AN ATHANOR (THE ALCHEMICAL FURNACE), TRANSMUTES METAL INTO SPIRITUAL GOLD, ON A LARGE SCALE. IT BECOMES A TEXTILE, WHILE KEEPING THE MEMORY OF ITS FORM, ITS RESISTANCE… AN OFFER THAT THUS SPREADS FROM INDOORS TO OUTOORS, THANKS TO THE EXTENSION OF ITS METAL AND LIGHT WINGSPAN. From interior decoration, its innovative matters and designer creations migrate to corners and events, then façade design, following architects’ desires, who are won over by the broad field of its proprieties (fire-retardant, UV and humidity resistant…) and its aesthetic possibilities. In order to better seize the whole 18 Pearl white No.13 Champagne No.10 range of this creative activity, which can transcend the quality of objects, volumes and industrial processes, one must understand its poetics, its music, its colors, its roots. This is the fabric of Sophie Mallebranche’s craft, of her life and story. Middle grey No.3 Handmade sculpted model Black No.51 19 Material Design Group SAS THE ESSENTIALS Opposite: No.13_OW, separating walls, Kempinski Hotel, Geneva Specifier: Strausak Associés Below: No.19_BB, covering for reception desk, Frésénius Kabi Elama, Paris. Specifier: Design Wapler & Associés N°19_BB Private elevator, Paris Specifier: Pierre Yovanovitch 20 21 Material Design Group SAS THE ESSENTIALS Opposite: No.13_OW, separating walls, Kempinski Hotel, Geneva Specifier: Strausak Associés Below: No.19_BB, covering for reception desk, Frésénius Kabi Elama, Paris. Specifier: Design Wapler & Associés N°19_BB Private elevator, Paris Specifier: Pierre Yovanovitch 20 21 THE NATURALS Material Design Group SAS FROM INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS TO A SENSITIVE, PICTORIAL MATTER No.12 No.17 No.15 No.19 STRETCHING FROM FAÇADE DESIGN TO OBJECTS, SOPHIE’S CREATIONS AND ULTRA-CHROMATIC COLLECTIONS BORDER ON MONUMENTALITY, TITILLATING THE EYE, PLAYING WITH LIGHT REFLECTIONS ON THE NATIVE OCEAN, SHIP HULLS AND THE IMPRESSIONISTS’ PALETTE. Stretching from façade design to objects, Sophie’s creations and ultra-chromatic collections border on monumentality, titillating the eye, playing with light reflections on the native ocean, ship hulls and the impressionists’ palette. He who hasn’t seen, from the Flowery coast, Le Havre’s port vanish into obscurity without recalling the impressionists’ palette cannot grasp the richness and the extension of her color chart. “To me the motif itself is an insignificant factor. What I want to reproduce, is what exists between the motif and me” said Claude Monet to his art dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel. Sophie, in her resolutely “business to business” approach, reproduces on a broad scale what exists between the 22 motif and the mark: our captured perceptions. She did so yesterday, as an independent designer between Paris, New York and Tokyo. And since 2009 within Material Design Group, where she is associated with Guillaume Danset, to trigger, as she says, “the project of industrializing the manufacturing process of my creations.” 1. Detail of “The Seine Below Rouen”, 1872, Claude Monet No.08 No.04 2. Detail of “Étretat: The End of the Day”, 1885, Claude Monet 3. Detail of “Impression, Sunrise”, 1874, Claude Monet 4. Detail of “Waterloo Bridge, Grey Weather”, 1901, Claude Monet No.25 No.26 No.51 23 THE NATURALS Material Design Group SAS FROM INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS TO A SENSITIVE, PICTORIAL MATTER No.12 No.17 No.15 No.19 STRETCHING FROM FAÇADE DESIGN TO OBJECTS, SOPHIE’S CREATIONS AND ULTRA-CHROMATIC COLLECTIONS BORDER ON MONUMENTALITY, TITILLATING THE EYE, PLAYING WITH LIGHT REFLECTIONS ON THE NATIVE OCEAN, SHIP HULLS AND THE IMPRESSIONISTS’ PALETTE. Stretching from façade design to objects, Sophie’s creations and ultra-chromatic collections border on monumentality, titillating the eye, playing with light reflections on the native ocean, ship hulls and the impressionists’ palette. He who hasn’t seen, from the Flowery coast, Le Havre’s port vanish into obscurity without recalling the impressionists’ palette cannot grasp the richness and the extension of her color chart. “To me the motif itself is an insignificant factor. What I want to reproduce, is what exists between the motif and me” said Claude Monet to his art dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel. Sophie, in her resolutely “business to business” approach, reproduces on a broad scale what exists between the 22 motif and the mark: our captured perceptions. She did so yesterday, as an independent designer between Paris, New York and Tokyo. And since 2009 within Material Design Group, where she is associated with Guillaume Danset, to trigger, as she says, “the project of industrializing the manufacturing process of my creations.” 1. Detail of “The Seine Below Rouen”, 1872, Claude Monet No.08 No.04 2. Detail of “Étretat: The End of the Day”, 1885, Claude Monet 3. Detail of “Impression, Sunrise”, 1874, Claude Monet 4. Detail of “Waterloo Bridge, Grey Weather”, 1901, Claude Monet No.25 No.26 No.51 23 Material Design Group SAS THE NATURALS SABI APPROACH The undulatory behavior of light or diffraction interferes, in Sophie Mallebranche’s craft, with cultural elements. She is sensitive both to the wabi – the adoption of her loom by the old stones of a Cistercian abbey – and the sabi aesthetics, the patina revealed in the object. Her work tries to approach objects not through form, but through the emptiness and light that surround them. A truly Japanese aesthetic, which refers to Tanizaki, and his book, “In Praise of Shadows”. Above: No.19_BB, private elevator, Paris Specifier: Pierre Yovanovitch No.3, Acoustic panels Museum of Hunting and Nature, Paris Specifier: Jouve Vignaud Sazerat 24 Below: No.3 monumental curtains, Plaza Athénée, Paris Specifier: Patrick Jouin 25 Material Design Group SAS THE NATURALS SABI APPROACH The undulatory behavior of light or diffraction interferes, in Sophie Mallebranche’s craft, with cultural elements. She is sensitive both to the wabi – the adoption of her loom by the old stones of a Cistercian abbey – and the sabi aesthetics, the patina revealed in the object. Her work tries to approach objects not through form, but through the emptiness and light that surround them. A truly Japanese aesthetic, which refers to Tanizaki, and his book, “In Praise of Shadows”. Above: No.19_BB, private elevator, Paris Specifier: Pierre Yovanovitch No.3, Acoustic panels Museum of Hunting and Nature, Paris Specifier: Jouve Vignaud Sazerat 24 Below: No.3 monumental curtains, Plaza Athénée, Paris Specifier: Patrick Jouin 25 THE ULTRA-CHROMATICS Material Design Group SAS No.81_OW No. 83 No.93 No. 71 No.45 This practice of transforming industrial materials into sensitive matters reveals to us that life is not only made of atoms. Then, in our imagination, Sophie leaves Paris for Balbec, a seaside resort on the Flowery coast, which Proust invented from scratch. This is where we find Elstir’s residence, the painter of the “In Search of Lost Time”, who endlessly renews his art… just like the narrator’s eye. Sophie is Elstir, dealing with these matters that are constantly renewed and seducing, these innovative materials, which she weaves from nothing and which redefine and enrich our universe. No.91_OW No.73_OW No. 35 No.44 26 27 THE ULTRA-CHROMATICS Material Design Group SAS No.81_OW No. 83 No.93 No. 71 No.45 This practice of transforming industrial materials into sensitive matters reveals to us that life is not only made of atoms. Then, in our imagination, Sophie leaves Paris for Balbec, a seaside resort on the Flowery coast, which Proust invented from scratch. This is where we find Elstir’s residence, the painter of the “In Search of Lost Time”, who endlessly renews his art… just like the narrator’s eye. Sophie is Elstir, dealing with these matters that are constantly renewed and seducing, these innovative materials, which she weaves from nothing and which redefine and enrich our universe. No.91_OW No.73_OW No. 35 No.44 26 27 THE ULTRA-CHROMATICS Material Design Group SAS HANDLING THE CREATIONS AS WORKS OF ART Opposite: “Contemplation” installation, Tokyo No. 75_Canopy. Café môm, Paris Specifier: Isabelle Lair-Ranger The rolls that are produced must on no account be put in contact with other materials. The chucks are suspended in made-to-measure wooden crates. As for the transportation of works of art, the crates are equipped with shock and rotation sensors (stock watch). TELLURIC APPROACH “No ambitious project ever succeeds without great peril”, as an old Japanese man told Sophie during her first trip to the Country of the Rising Sun, when telluric jolts and bad weather constantly threatened to destroy her installations. She never forgot that appeasing sentence. No.83_BB, Headboard, hotel rooms project, pending. 28 29 THE ULTRA-CHROMATICS Material Design Group SAS HANDLING THE CREATIONS AS WORKS OF ART Opposite: “Contemplation” installation, Tokyo No. 75_Canopy. Café môm, Paris Specifier: Isabelle Lair-Ranger The rolls that are produced must on no account be put in contact with other materials. The chucks are suspended in made-to-measure wooden crates. As for the transportation of works of art, the crates are equipped with shock and rotation sensors (stock watch). TELLURIC APPROACH “No ambitious project ever succeeds without great peril”, as an old Japanese man told Sophie during her first trip to the Country of the Rising Sun, when telluric jolts and bad weather constantly threatened to destroy her installations. She never forgot that appeasing sentence. No.83_BB, Headboard, hotel rooms project, pending. 28 29 PARTNERSHIPS Material Design Group SAS OUR MACHINES OUR PROCESS OUR PARTNER Beneath the ancient trees, a Cistercian abbey: the honorable Toiles de Mayenne House, set up in FontaineDaniel for the past 200 years. An important place of industrial pilgrimage, where textile is a mission. Inside, amidst the traditional weaving looms, a technological UFO, the loom dedicated to Sophie Mallebranche’s innovative creations. The product of a unique collaboration between Grégoire Denis, the President of the Toiles de Mayenne, and Material Design Group. A technologically innovative project set in a traditional land, that respects the craftsman, the worker, under the aegis of two workshop leaders: Daniel Roulette and Hubert Cournée. The project was supported by the Francilien Centre for Innovation, Oseo, Paris Pionnières and Mayenne Expansion for a “Made in France” industrial innovation. The imminent delivery of a second metal weaving loom will help innovation – “the perpetuation of endless questions”, as Sophie Mallebranche puts it. Right: Cistercian abbey. Toiles de Mayenne in Fontaine-Daniel (53100). Opposite: aerial view of the Toiles de Mayenne manufacture in Fontaine-Daniel (53100). 30 31 PARTNERSHIPS Material Design Group SAS OUR MACHINES OUR PROCESS OUR PARTNER Beneath the ancient trees, a Cistercian abbey: the honorable Toiles de Mayenne House, set up in FontaineDaniel for the past 200 years. An important place of industrial pilgrimage, where textile is a mission. Inside, amidst the traditional weaving looms, a technological UFO, the loom dedicated to Sophie Mallebranche’s innovative creations. The product of a unique collaboration between Grégoire Denis, the President of the Toiles de Mayenne, and Material Design Group. A technologically innovative project set in a traditional land, that respects the craftsman, the worker, under the aegis of two workshop leaders: Daniel Roulette and Hubert Cournée. The project was supported by the Francilien Centre for Innovation, Oseo, Paris Pionnières and Mayenne Expansion for a “Made in France” industrial innovation. The imminent delivery of a second metal weaving loom will help innovation – “the perpetuation of endless questions”, as Sophie Mallebranche puts it. Right: Cistercian abbey. Toiles de Mayenne in Fontaine-Daniel (53100). Opposite: aerial view of the Toiles de Mayenne manufacture in Fontaine-Daniel (53100). 30 31 BIOGRAPHY Material Design Group SAS KEY DATES A FEW FIGURES 1976 : Born in Honfleur, Calvados region. 1998 : Graduated from the Duperré Superior School of Decorative Arts [École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués] in Paris, in textile design. 2000 : Opened her first showroom, rue de la Mode, in the Barbès neighborhood of Paris. 2002 to 2005 : Matter creation program for Chanel, her historical client (Peter Marino Architect, New York). 2004 : First trip to Japan, invited by the French Association for Artistic Action [Association Française pour l’Action Artistique] and Culture France. She conceived three installations there. 2005 : Delivery of the first monumental execution, at the Plaza Athénée (Patrick Jouin, designer). 2006 to 2008 : Development of the activity on the East coast of the United-States. 2009 : Association with Guillaume Danset; Material Design Group SAS is created. 2009 : Material Design Group signs an industrial partnership with the two-hundred-year-old Toiles de Mayenne House, to develop its own production equipment. 2011 : Sophie Mallebranche signed with Louis Vuitton Malletier and Christian Dior Parfums the referencing of the matters created for these Houses and their international development. 2012 : Sophie Mallebranche’s activity now involves seventy people. Three : the number of looms broken before patent registration. Five million wires woven in two years. Eight and a half million meters of woven wires. MAV 1976 : first weaving loom on which Sophie Mallebranche ever worked. It is barely her age. 70 people have participated in the industrialization project. AWARDS AND HONORS Rising Star Awards 2007 – the Fashion Group International. Interior Design Finalist. Design Editors Award 2006 – category: Textile – ICFF – New York. Masters of Entrepreneurship – Category: Independent Designer – delivered by the French State, at the Senate. 2005 Design Observatory Star – APCI – Category: innovative material, for the Plaza Athénée project. Selection by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the AFAA , for the Plaza Athénée project. Volunteer for International Experience in the Administration [Volontariat International en Administration] “Permanent call”, 2001 fellowship for the “Incubator” [Couveuse] extra stool prototype, exhibited at the Paris Conran Shop, opposite Frank O. Gehry’s “Wriggle Side Chair”. 1999 Museum Expression competition –Objects for the Georges Pompidou Center, Paris: First Prize. 32 33 BIOGRAPHY Material Design Group SAS KEY DATES A FEW FIGURES 1976 : Born in Honfleur, Calvados region. 1998 : Graduated from the Duperré Superior School of Decorative Arts [École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués] in Paris, in textile design. 2000 : Opened her first showroom, rue de la Mode, in the Barbès neighborhood of Paris. 2002 to 2005 : Matter creation program for Chanel, her historical client (Peter Marino Architect, New York). 2004 : First trip to Japan, invited by the French Association for Artistic Action [Association Française pour l’Action Artistique] and Culture France. She conceived three installations there. 2005 : Delivery of the first monumental execution, at the Plaza Athénée (Patrick Jouin, designer). 2006 to 2008 : Development of the activity on the East coast of the United-States. 2009 : Association with Guillaume Danset; Material Design Group SAS is created. 2009 : Material Design Group signs an industrial partnership with the two-hundred-year-old Toiles de Mayenne House, to develop its own production equipment. 2011 : Sophie Mallebranche signed with Louis Vuitton Malletier and Christian Dior Parfums the referencing of the matters created for these Houses and their international development. 2012 : Sophie Mallebranche’s activity now involves seventy people. Three : the number of looms broken before patent registration. Five million wires woven in two years. Eight and a half million meters of woven wires. MAV 1976 : first weaving loom on which Sophie Mallebranche ever worked. It is barely her age. 70 people have participated in the industrialization project. AWARDS AND HONORS Rising Star Awards 2007 – the Fashion Group International. Interior Design Finalist. Design Editors Award 2006 – category: Textile – ICFF – New York. Masters of Entrepreneurship – Category: Independent Designer – delivered by the French State, at the Senate. 2005 Design Observatory Star – APCI – Category: innovative material, for the Plaza Athénée project. Selection by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the AFAA , for the Plaza Athénée project. Volunteer for International Experience in the Administration [Volontariat International en Administration] “Permanent call”, 2001 fellowship for the “Incubator” [Couveuse] extra stool prototype, exhibited at the Paris Conran Shop, opposite Frank O. Gehry’s “Wriggle Side Chair”. 1999 Museum Expression competition –Objects for the Georges Pompidou Center, Paris: First Prize. 32 33 ADDRESSES Material Design Group SAS EUROPE PARIS LONDON BENELUX USA NEW-YORK CHICAGO ASIA TOKYO TAIWAN HONG-KONG SHANGHAI BEIJING SINGAPORE AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE The broad field of aesthetic properties and possibilities of Sophie Mallebranche’s creations naturally echoes with international projects, which are the essential framework of her activity and business. Project management and followup is carried out thanks to an international team, established in thirteen cities on five continents. OCEANIA MELBOURNE SYDNEY MIDDLE-EAST SAUDI ARABIA-JEDDAH PARIS SOPHIE MALLEBRANCHE / MATERIAL DESIGN GROUP 47 RUE MARCEL DASSAULT 92100 BOULOGNE BILLANCOURT FRANCE +33 1 57 63 80 00 contact@sophiemallebranche.com www.sophiemallebranche.com Sophie Mallebranche® Material Design Group SAS Photos: Karym Bagoée - Nicolas Buisson - Augustin de Valence - Carlos Munuoz-Yagüe 34 35 ADDRESSES Material Design Group SAS EUROPE PARIS LONDON BENELUX USA NEW-YORK CHICAGO ASIA TOKYO TAIWAN HONG-KONG SHANGHAI BEIJING SINGAPORE AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE The broad field of aesthetic properties and possibilities of Sophie Mallebranche’s creations naturally echoes with international projects, which are the essential framework of her activity and business. Project management and followup is carried out thanks to an international team, established in thirteen cities on five continents. OCEANIA MELBOURNE SYDNEY MIDDLE-EAST SAUDI ARABIA-JEDDAH PARIS SOPHIE MALLEBRANCHE / MATERIAL DESIGN GROUP 47 RUE MARCEL DASSAULT 92100 BOULOGNE BILLANCOURT FRANCE +33 1 57 63 80 00 contact@sophiemallebranche.com www.sophiemallebranche.com Sophie Mallebranche® Material Design Group SAS Photos: Karym Bagoée - Nicolas Buisson - Augustin de Valence - Carlos Munuoz-Yagüe 34 35