Wallpaper* Profiles Boisbuchet Design Workshops
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 12. 4.06
Just west of the Vienne river in the south-west of France lies Boisbuchet, home to an idyllic 370-acre estate that plays host to a series of week-long design workshops each summer. Each course is led by a different designer, and the one profiled in the latest issue of Wallpaper* magazine challenged participants to give new uses to old objects. Led by Fernando and Humberto Campana, the dynamic brothers from Brazil, participants were encouraged to "be free and ridiculous" and the results netted, among others, a series of loungers from empty wine containers and a set of cutlery the brothers think should be taken to design supercenter Milan for immediate production. The workshops are run in collaboration with the Vitra Design Museum and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and draw in participants from across the globe for a week of local dining (a resident chef prepares the group's three meals each day from almost exclusively regional ingredients), local Bordeaux and a whole new perspective on design and the opportunity to try something totally different. For us, it doesn't get much better than combining recycling, high-design and a week in the French countryside; the only downside is we have to wait until summer for more. ::Boisbuchet via ::Wallpaper* December 2006
Great that you wrote about Boisbuchet Collin. The Vitra Design Workshops are amazing. I've been to two myself, in previous years. One with the Swedish designers Claesson Koivisto Rune and the other with French design superstar Erwan Bouroullec. Both were exceptional experiences in personal design development, meeting people from all over the world, and being at one with the French countryside; not to mention a fantastic opportunity to meet and work with some top class designers. Boisbuchet is a truly beautiful and inspiring environment. I recommend anyone, student or professional, who is in interested in design to go.