Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec
Italy
Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec were born in Quimper, respectively in 1971 and 1976. As soon as he graduated from the «Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs», Ronan began working alone, progressively assisted by Erwan, still a student at the «Ecole des Beaux-Arts» of Cergy Pontoise. The two brothers have been working together since 1999. Their collaboration is a constant dialogue, nourished by their single identities and strived towards a common goal. They met Giulio Cappellini in 1997, while showing the “Disintegrated Kitchen” at the Salon du Meuble in Paris. This was the starting point of a regular cooperation that gave birth to various projects as of 1999. In 2000, Issey Miyake commissioned them for a shop in Paris, dedicated to his new collection A-Poc. The very same year, they met Rolf Felhbaum, Chairman of Vitra, and began working on a new Office Furniture System called “Joyn” and edited in 2002. This recent project opened the way for further collaboration. Today, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec work together with numerous manufacturers such as Vitra, Cappellini, Issey Miyake, Magis, Ligne Roset, Habitat and the Kréo Gallery. At the same time, they realize some architecture projects, like the «Floating House», an artist Studio under construction, commissioned by “Le centre d’Art de Chatou”. Named “Creator of the Year” at the Salon du Meuble in Paris, 2002, they won multiple awards like the “New Designer Awards” of the International Furniture Fair of New York in 1999, le Grand Prix du Design de la Ville de Paris in 1998 and the First Prize of Saint-Etienne Biennale in 1998. In 2003, they were elected “designer of the year” by Elle Decoration, Japan. Their creations have been exhibited in many collective or solo exhibitions like “Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec” in the London Design Museum in 2002. In June 2004, a new solo exhibition will take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s designs are part of some permanent museum collections including New York Museum of Modern Art, the “Musée National d’Art Moderne- Centre Georges Pompidou” in Paris, the London Design Museum, the Lisbon Design Museum and the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum of Rotterdam.. After the first publication dedicated to them «Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec - Catalogue de raison», Editions Images Modernes / Kréo, 2002, they designed themselves a new book: «Ronan et Erwan Bouroullec», edited by Phaidon in 2003. Both brothers regularly take part in workshops of diverse Schools of Art or Design. Ronan Bouroullec is professor at the “Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne” in Switzerland.
