words Anna Bates Last weekend Galerie Kreo opened in a bigger gallery space just off St Germain de Pres on Paris’ south bank. To celebrate, 16 new pieces joined the Parisian gallery’s collection. “As you can see, there is no brief,” says gallery owner Didier Krzentowski, summing up the diverse works on show. “But there was a kind of hidden brief – they are pieces that the designers think will make an advance in research.” It’s an understated collection. French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec made a very subtle low table, and Parisian Martin Szekely is presenting a series of plain concrete stools. Even Konstantin Grcic’s carbon-fibre lounger is “the most simple long chair you can find”, says Krzentowski. But the simplicity is deceptive – Szekely worked with an extremely thin fibre concrete to develop his stools, and Grcic worked with craftsmen who hand-make carbon parts for BMW’s Formula One team to construct his chaise longue. “It couldn’t have been done in any other material,” says Grcic. “The span between the four very thin legs would be far too big and stressful for any other material.” Some of the pieces have been in development for the past year and a half, such as Rotterdam-based Wieki Somers’ Bell Flower – a floor lamp with the base, shade and electricity cables woven into one piece (we showed an early version in icon 054). “Some of the work looks so simple, but every time I see the pieces, I think of something different,” says Krzentowski. “The Bouroullec brothers’ table looks like the top is floating, it has a Japanese feel, but it also makes you think of the Fifties.”images Fabrice Gousset top image Tavolino table by Alessandro Mendini
image Bellflower by Wieki Somers
image Karbon long chair by Konstantin Grcic
image Carbon Laderée by Marc Newson
image Concrete consoles by Martin Szekely
image Hanger by Naoto Fukasawa |
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