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Constance Guisset / IN THE AIR ///





          Inspired  by a strong artistic  sensibility,  Constance
          Guisset  began her  career  as an  administrator at
          the Nelson art gallery and  then went on  to work
          at the Bouroullec brothers’ studio. Her personal
          development,  through creation  and  the  poetry  of
          design,  led  her  to  enrol in the  National School of
          Industrial Design, from where she graduated in 2007.
          After she won the 2008 Paris Grand Prix of Design
          and the  2010  Audi Talent Award,  the  Museum of
          Decorative Arts staged an exhibition of her work in
          2017. This showcased her highly individual approach
          which  incorporates  experimental research,  esthetic
          considerations and pure creation.  However, at the
          outset, there was no indication that this bright ESSEC
          Business School  student  would become  a  designer,
          apart from her desire to work using both her brains
          and her hands. This, and the driving force that has
          inspired her since childhood: the desire to understand
          what goes on  behind the  magic, to understand the
          manufacturing  process of a  product as well  as its
          history and its uses. Meet one of the most influential
          figures of French design.









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         At  the start  of your career, you designed the Vertigo  lamp   Stage design is a large part of your work. How do you get to grips
         that requires no introduction. Is Constance Guisset an iconic   with creating the necessary magic?
         designer?                                               C. G.: Stage design is a completely different field:  you have to
         Constance Guisset: If the lamp is considered “iconic”, can we   make the space work  in order to bring the content to life, to
         say the same about the designer? What I do know is that I am   meet the requirements of a choreographer, a commissioner or an
         really happy about the success of this product, that no longer   artist's content.  Discussions and close cooperation are essential.
         belongs to me, but to every one of its users. It is amazing to   I am constantly asking myself questions about the rhythm, the
         see how each person embraces it.                        timing, the  impact.  I’m basically trying  to create  a gateway  to
                                                                 another world.
         You have a multi-disciplinary approach to your craft. In what
         way does interior design differ from product design?    Ballet, exhibitions, hotel rooms… what inspires you the most?
         C. G.:  Visualizing a space is different from designing a single   C. G.: Each project has its own character and  its own  charm.
         object. You need to work on the whole atmosphere, understand its   What’s more, they play off each other. For example, the all-paper
         components, find the balance and blend into the space just like a fish   stage design I created for Angelin Preljocaj’s staging of Genet’s
         in an aquarium.                                         “The Tightrope Walker” led me to create a lamp called Angelin.
         How important is it for you to bring a touch of imagination to   It’s impossible to choose. An encounter might inspire me, or a
                                                                 particular subject, or even a moment.
         daily life?
         C. G.:  Too often we  just  make do  in  terms  of  our daily  lives.     Have you ever considered designing a public area?
         The way that manufacturing works means we have to just accept   C. G.: Public areas are quite distinct spaces. It doesn’t matter if it
         the fact that floorboards, for example, are cut at right angles. I think   is a hotel or the entrance hall to a museum, I always enjoy creating
         my work does the opposite of that. We can surround ourselves with   something welcoming, something light and airy. My dream is to
         objects that are a bit different, we can create an element of surprise,   design a restaurant which is probably my next project, and also a
         things that make you sit up and take notice, that bring pleasure and   station ticket hall.
         endless fascination.
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