From the 18th to the 22nd this past April 2007, as part of the Milan Furniture Fair, the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud and the ECAL-Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne University of Art and Design Lausanne presented (at the Grand Hôtel et de Milan) projects in porcelain by students produced by the Bernardaud Factory.
These projects were selected following a workshop run by Alexis Georgacopoulos, head of the Industrial Design department of the ECAL, and Augustin Scott de Martinville, a professor at the ECAL.
“The idea initially was to look again at the traditional image of porcelain, which tends to be associated with tableware, by integrating it in different ways into the day-to-day environment,” explains Alexis Georgacopoulos. Students rose to the challenge by designing a range of varied and original objects: finely sculpted dominoes, a vase consisting of stacked plates, a chandelier with eight hundred small porcelain discs exploiting the material’s transparency, an enamelled cone in which to enjoy an ice-cream, four vases transformed into loudspeakers around an ingenious acoustic system… With humour, elegance, poetry and bravado, each piece questions lifestyles while subtly integrating the manufacturing constraints of porcelain.
The mission of the Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud, set up in 2003 by Michel Bernardaud, is to renew the way porcelain is perceived. Based in Limoges, it invites designers of all nationalities from around the globe to re-invent this material, to generate bold interactions, to explore new territory and ultimately to find new uses for this material. “We have been delighted with this collaboration which combines innovation and know-how and greatly appreciated the fact that the ECAL, one of the most prestigious design schools, wished to conduct a study of this still largely unappreciated material…” explains Hélène Huret, the Fondation’s director.
“Carte Blanche”
Private viewing was Tuesday 17 April 2007 from 7pm “Au Grand Hôtel et de Milan”,
Sala Verdi, (1st floor), via Manzoni 29, 20121 Milan.
Exhibition ran from 18 to 22 April 2007 (11am to 8pm).
This exhibition is supported by the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and the Economic Development unit of the Vaud Canton
High-definition images available from the sites www.ecal.ch or www.bernardaud.fr, and on CD-ROM on request.
Information:
Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne
4, avenue de l’Elysée
CH-1006 Lausanne
Tel +41 (0)21 316 99 33
Fax +41 (0)21 616 39 91
E-mail pierre.keller@ecal.ch
www.ecal.ch
Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud
11, rue Royale
F-75008 Paris
Tel +33(0)1 43 12 52 06
Fax +33 (0) 1 43 12 52 01
Press e-mail: sdufresne@bernardaud.fr
www.bernardaud.fr