Solving for X, Y, & Z

We don’t know exactly, but we have some recipes. My recipe is always: Imagine the project I’m working on is inside a big room with an infinity of doors. And each door is a way to go into a project. For example, you’re working on a subject. You go in History and learn everything you can on that subject. That is one door. You experiment with Material. This is another door. The necessity is to discover five or ten doors to be sure I’m in the right room with the right objective arguments.

Most of the time, people come to me with a problem. And 100% of time, they come with the problem and the solution. The problem I have is that the solution people ask me to do is not the good one. Say someone asks you to build a bridge to cross a river.  A bridge is a solution, but maybe a tunnel, a boat, something else is the best solution. I say, OK, but I would like really to understand the deep root of the problem you have. 

So first, investigate and be sure the problem is real. When you have made that problem clear, you have solved the problem a little bit. The more you explain your problem, the more you’re working through the resolution. The more your question is accurate, the more the solution will be accurate. I’m looking for constraint. I love constraints, because the more you’ve got constraint, the more powerful the project could be.

For example, an umbrella company asked me to do a device to have a GPS position of the umbrella.

The more I was looking at the budget, the more I was saying it’s going to be a very cheap, cheap product, it’s going to be big, we’ve got a battery problem, etc.

And I asked them what is really the problem? Because nobody’s lost an umbrella in the forest or the desert. We are losing umbrellas in restaurants, in hotels.

So I say, why not write your name on it? And they loved the solution.

You see, we are trying sometimes to solve the wrong problem. And that’s a shame because it can be very simple. 

When I was a kid, I remember I saw ergonomic products for the first time. And I was like, OK, problem solved. It has to look like that to be comfortable. In fact, it’s not like that. Why? Because sometimes, we look at this object and say, I don’t want to live with it. 

There is a utility in the aesthetic. Aesthetics are part of the functionality. When I go to a chair and see how comfortable it will be, I’m predicting this. And if it’s harmonious, nice, I get some value. But when you go somewhere a little bit dirty, or where someone does not take care of the place, you feel devalued. So the two are linked.

For me, the real balance is aesthetic, functional, and sustainable. That is the new design. It’s in my DNA to create things and try to make my world better, more comfortable, more aesthetic. We are creators, so we could not stop, but we could create things in a way that there is room for next human beings after us to have this creation space. The question is how to do design in a way that leaves the gate open for the future.

It’s a complicated question. The price is always pushing to what I feel like is a bad direction, and we are making stuff in a bad way. The simplest solution could be to make things cost much more by making them better locally with natural stuff, etc. But we are in a globalization market.  It’s frustrating.  

An example of a product I have designed is the chair that’s hiding the forest. I was working for a very big brand, and they asked me, could I use that product to paint this? And I was like, could you open it and make it go into your garden like this? Could you pour it in your garden? And he told me, no, why should I do that? So I say, if you couldn’t put it in your garden, don’t put it with your customer. And they told me, OK, but if I do that and then use only natural product, it’s going to be ugly. 

So I was thinking, I would like to do a chair 100% natural. So it’s wood, bending with water, gluing with fish glue, and protecting with beeswax. But at the same time, we have to do things that look sharp, bold, and futuristic, that make us feel we could achieve this crazy connection between natural and aesthetic. It’s harder. The road is longer, but I think it’s the good one.

For me, it’s a reassurance when you are using something that grows naturally. A tree just grows, we cut it, you could do lots of things with it.

When you work with something natural, it’s great. But, if we go to the dentist, I don’t want to take care of my teeth with wood.

The balance between artificial and natural is about the usage. For example, if you arrive to your dentist, the space is very important. We don’t see talk about not putting plastic in medical stuff because we have to.

When you think about that, we call it common sense.

Am I keeping it for a really good amount of time? Will the energy I invest in that project last? When I would like to change my kitchen, my bathroom, could I get this out without any problem? Would I find some way to put that stuff in the environment in a good way?

Those are the questions I’m asking, which a bad product could not answer.

So when I create a space, I’m always creating in my mind something that could be unmade with no problem. I don’t need the wrecking ball to put everything in the garbage. 

I’m excited. Technology means I could speak to you like this and you understand me. A hundred years before, it would be impossible and I could not see your eyes, you couldn’t see my reaction. So I’m really, really enthusiastic. 

For me, AI is like a hammer. A hammer is a tool and does not hit the nails for you. It’s easier to hit a nail with a hammer, but at the same time, you could kill someone with a hammer. It’s a tool and we have to be cautious. I use Chat GPT, and for me, it’s a great tool. When I’m beginning something, I don’t know which door I have to take to enter my room. Chat GPT is one door. It won’t get the right answer, but it could be interesting, could be a start of something.

Try to be connected with the deep core of what makes you the singularity of your work. It’s very hard sometimes. You know, the market pushed me in one way, history of design pushed me in another way. But what is my way to do things? I’m not a philosopher, but there is a link between what you are doing and what you are. The more you work on you, the more you understand why you are doing that.