ploum

“We attempted to make a very comfortable contemporary settee.  Ploum is a vast shape offering a soft, welcoming surface on which the whole body can rest. Its seat is relatively low, it seems organic. Perhaps the use of a stretchy fabric is a symbolic parallel to a contemporary lifestyle, in which flexibility of use and comfort seem to us to be essential. We pictured it like a ripe, voluptuous piece of fruit.” Such was the intention of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, who wanted to give consideration to those special moments during the day when we each want to relax and perhaps catch up with other members of the household. It is therefore important that the greatest comfort afforded by the settee is its ability to encourage the body to relax in any position, from sitting to lying. The 4-seat settee also offers another very specific feature in terms of its croissant-shape, which tends to turn people towards each other around a common centre.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, both born in Quimper, studied at the Ecole nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs, Paris and the Ecole nationale supérieure d’arts de Cergy-Pointoise respectively. Ronan (born 1971) and Erwan (born 1976) came together in 1999 to carry out their work within a framework of permanent dialogue and a shared requirement for greater precision and delicacy. They seek to make objects which are singular, elegant and sensual of form, and sustainable and adaptable in terms of function. They seem to have a predilection for certain themes: concepts such as elements which may combine to facilitate multiple use (Axor Bouroullec bathroom collection 2010) and half-closed spaces which serve to (re)define the concept of space (Lit Clos bed, 2000; la Cabane, 2001; Alcôve armchairs, 2007; North Tiles and Clouds textile tiles) are all part and parcel of their desire to preserve intimacy by structuring space.