About the Resident

Robin Bourgeois was selected in collaboration with École des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) to be IC + WD International Residency’s first resident.

Robin is an industrial and furniture designer based in Paris, France. After training with Unfold (BE) and Shane Schneck studio Office for Design (SE), he graduated from the École des Arts Décoratifs with honors and began collaborating with designer Pierre Favresse (FR) in 2020. In parallel, he develops his own practice, working on furniture and industrial goods.

Presented in partnership with Villa Albertine
Supported by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation

robinbourgeois.fr
@robinbourgeois_

Learn more about the French Residency

Robin Bourgeois, winner  of  the  Cinna/Révélateur  de  Talents competition, is interested in everyday objects  and  (occasionally  obsolete)  historical  artefacts, the uses of which encourage him not to merely exhume forgotten forms, but rather re-engage them with our era.

The project’s starting point for his residency is the history of Sunset Park, home to Industry City. The project will reflect on objects from this exploration. This includes re-examining the links between the location’s residents, history, and culture. 

Based on this research and these interactions, he plans to design objects that draw on forgotten elements of the local culture, and that highlight aspects of everyday life in Sunset Park.

Residency Project

“In 2018, I randomly visited a Cistercian abbey in the village of Ligugé in France. It made a great impression on me, from the architecture to the furnishing to the daily lives of the monks. I then began to study Cistercian history and went on retreats in abbeys in various parts of France to experience the monk’s way of life. I eventually designed a range of objects that transmit the heritage of the Cistercian in our times: making do with little, building to last, living amongst nature, being attentive to our surroundings, contemplation…

This experience convinced me that one should not make a clean break with the past but rather start from the existing to design relevant objects. The challenge is not so much to dig up forgotten forms as to reuse them in a contemporary setting.
Exploring New-York and Brooklyn for almost two months, visiting landmarks and digging into online archives, I came across little stories, details and anecdotes that struck me. Parallel to the History, they build out a common narrative rooted in everyday life.

Taking advantage of being “passing through” , I caught up some of these stories. They became starting points for proposing objects that embody them and pay tribute to them. The rough paper models, quick sketches and iPhone photographs on show testify of these researches at a very early stage are. Everything is still to be defined.

• The vase is made of Tulip Poplar, also called whitewood or yellow poplar. The Lenape word for Tulip Poplar is Muxulhemenshi, meaning “tree from which canoes are made”. In 1626, the Dutch “purchased” Manhattan to the locals Lenape for 24$. But the Lenape won’t remove from Manahatta, arguing that they had only sold the grass on the land, not the land itself. At the exact same time the Netherlands fell in love with the very fashionable tulip and entered what we call now the Tulip Mania period.

The candleholder is out of red clay, the kind used to make the bricks so typical from Brooklyn. Back in the beginning of the Dutch settlement, bricks were luxury goods, not because of a lack of base material, but because of a lack of skilled craftmen and absence of industry. They were no brick maker in the area at the time, so the precious cubes had to be shipped from Europe. Visiting the early XVIII century Vander Ende-Onderdonk House in Ridgewood, I felt impressed by the fireplace, first because it was built out of European bricks, second because the rest of the house was made of stone. Thus, the luxury of the house is in its chimney, hidden in the basement. I found it beautiful, and sought to give shape to it designing a candleholder. “

The mirror drawn its inspiration from the Sunset Park neighbourhood. From fences to buffer, from mailbox to
outdoor furniture, every possible object seems to have its shiny chromed metal model. In the book Indian givers, anthropologist Jack Weatherford enumerates what the world owes to Natives American in disciplines as broadly as medecines, food or politics. One thing Locals did not know at the time is metal work; and Weatherford shows how the knowledges of metal have been crucial for the European to defeat the Natives. Whether or not this story is related to the passion for shiny metal of today, the mirror attempts to make this material attractive and warm enough to be welcomed into interiors. It seeks to use chrome for its very first quality: reflection.

Residency Highlights

Robin’s Experience

1. After one month back in Paris, what is the most important and beneficial outcome for you in spending those 2 months in New York?

It has been very unique to work on a specific project for two months surrounded by a totally new environment. I was both out of my comfort zone, as a result of being a foreigner in New York, and very at ease : I had a working space for myself, and could schedule my days as I wanted…

2. What is the impression it left you?

I feel like there is a room to revisit everyday American items! I also have the feeling that a lot of the American heritage is unknown and would deserve to be underlined and showcased. I’m thinking about Natives invisible heritage, about Dutch culture back when New York was called New Amsterdam, about Latino and Asian creativity today… We had the chance to visit together with Odile the Shaker Museum and Shaker village in New Lebanon, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I feel so lucky, but also a bit sad that this is not known and shared as a common heritage by Americans/New Yorkers.

3. What was the most exciting/unexpected discovery and learning part?

I learned a lot about the local culture and history, visiting landmarks and remote neighborhoods, digging into online archives and museums. 

4. What can of material you brought back and how do you want to continue to develop your project?

There are some ideas I developed further during the residency, doing 1:1 paper model and renderings, that I would like to refine and adjust to make prototypes and potentially submit to companies.

5. Would you be interested in coming back?

Now that I had a glimpse of New York,I would love to come back to meet American companies with specific projects in mind.

Press Coverage and Online Features

We invite you to read the latest coverage and features on Robin’s residency project and/or experience.

Intramuros
Le Figaro

NYCxDESIGN
Villa Albertine website