Out of format
Some projects are different from others. This one was born of a desire to break away, a need for formal freedom, almost insolence.
Inspired by Valentine Schlegel’s organic freedom, I wanted to create a sculptural piece that would break away from the norms and constraints of tool formats. Thus was born “Arpel”, a monumental plaster fireplace, both functional and sculptural, imposing yet perfectly integrated into the space. “Arpel” is not a name chosen at random. It’s a nod to Jacques Tati and his film Mon Oncle, in which Monsieur Arpel embodies a rigid, almost absurd vision of modernism and domesticity. In contrast to this standardized coldness, “Arpel” is a free-form, hand-modeled design, intended to warm up interiors and break with more standard lines.
Each fireplace is unique. It’s the result of an encounter with a place, an exchange with the architecture, a period of research and drawing that guides the gesture. Nothing is standardized. Everything is shaped like a living work of art. Through this project, I’m defending a certain idea of habitat: a place where art, design and materials interact without hierarchy. Where you can still be surprised. Where the raw becomes intimate.