The colorful language of industrial design by Julie Richoz

The colorful language of industrial design by Julie Richoz

Franco-Swiss designer Julie Richoz studied at ECAL (where she now also teaches) and created her design studio in Paris in 2015, after assisting designer Pierre Charpin. Whether it is furniture or design objects, his pieces are characterized by their brilliance and lightness. “I’ve been following his work since his student days,” says Nendo’s Oki Sato, who named Richoz as one of 25 creative leaders of the future in Wallpaper’s 25th anniversary “5×5” project. “I can see the Bouroullec brothers’ DNA in it, but its unique sense for color and exceptional detail makes it completely original.”

Not content with collecting clients such as Louis Poulsen, Hay, Tectona, Galerie Kreo and Mattiazzi, Richoz won the Swiss Design Award 2019 for his commitment “to explore ancient crafts, including non-European ones, and to integrate them into the design of contemporary objects ”. His objects, we read in the award press release, “are created in close connection with specific production sites to affirm the value of local and traditional craftsmanship”.

Carpet, for Hay

Its distinctive design language has been defined through design residencies including the CIRVA / Center for Research on Art and Glass in Marseille (2013), the Cité de la Céramique in Sèvres (2013) and the Casa Wabi, the Bosco Sodi’s residency program at the Tadao Ando-designed art foundation in Mexico (2017). For the latter, Richoz collaborated with a palm weaver from Mechoacán, creating a series of minimalist room dividers that explored varying degrees of transparency, using weaving patterns from the traditional to the most innovative.

Recent projects include Shed, which is part of the “Knit! »Exhibition – Kvadrat’s initiative involving 28 emerging global designers who were invited to create furniture and objects using the Kvadrat Febrik range of textiles. Following research into the history of textile architecture and nomadic structures, she created a work of mini-architecture with the ‘Plecto’ fabric collection, exploring how textiles can create space and the structure. “I love that a space can be formed only with textile surfaces,” she said. “Sometimes a simple surface like a roof or a floor has the capacity to create the abstraction of a house, a welcoming situation.

Bowls ‘Portobello’, for Mattiazzi. Photography: Gerhardt Kellerman

Throughout his work, his strong interest in artisanal techniques emerges with projects such as the ‘Giro’ tableware for Trame, in terracotta hand-turned and following a mathematical grid, or the ‘Noise’ and ‘Stereo rugs. ‘, both handcrafted in Morocco. by local artisans.

Commissioned by Italian brand Mattiazzi to create a series of accessories, she recently unveiled the ‘Portobello’ bowls, a duo of organically shaped objects made from solid ash, available in a natural, oiled or stained finish in a distinctive blue hue. . Unveiling the pieces, she said: “What interests me is the craftsmanship, the precision in the way the materials are used, and that things are done with passion. §