Vernacular design in dialogue with today’s demands
« According to Pierre Murot, most
contemporary buildings share a
common trait: a search for standardised man-made materials that conceal their
origin and age. It is almost as if modernday architecture pursues timeless
perfection, which can conceal all traces
of wear and tear. An industrial designer who graduated in Paris from ENSCI-Les Ateliers and the École Boulle, as well as
a former collaborator of Philippe Starck, Murot doesn’t share this “vision” and
attempts to offer alternative paths by
rediscovering and reproposing natural materials. In particular, Murot works with
clay, which he sees as a material with a living and breathing skin that has great
tactile tactile and sensory qualities. Thanks to experiments conducted at
the Durand brick factory, in southern
Dordogne, Murot has worked on the
extrusion processes of clay by finetuning
a procedure – which he calls Fil rouge – that permits a profound renewal
of the terracotta production lines. By
embracing the principles of sustainability and only using locally sourced materials
and production methods, Murot has
applied natural processes to all sorts of objects, from vases to bookcases,
trays and light-emitting wall appliques.
Connected to the design of products
and their relationship with artistic
craftsmanship, Murot focuses on enhancing what he defines as savoir
faire, i.e. those artisan practices that
become creative excellence. Whether working with cabinet makers, leather
tanners, or bronze casters (i.e. during a workshop in Burkina Faso), or terracotta
artisans, Murot embraces the idea of
vernacular design that can dialogue with new technologies and today’s demands,
reproposing local ecosystems and the
cultural diversity of each place.. »
Silvana Annicchiarico
Domus Magazine n°1065, february 2022
