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The French brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec were the first to hold the Maarten Van Severen Chair. Erwan Bouroullec gave two lectures: one about the Bouroullecs own work and one – in a more intimate setting and for a smaller group of participants – in which he took a closer look at some aspects of the Bouroullecs’ work and how the work is related to Maarten Van Severen’s design. This second lecture was also the start of a three-day masterclass for a group of student from Aalto University, Universität der Künste Berlin, ENSAV – La Cambre, KASK / School of Arts Gent and Design Academy Eindhoven. The students continued the work on the projects that were initiated during the workshop the whole year long. You can see the progress of their work throughout that year on the blog.

The Bouroullecs designs have been described as representing poetic practicality. “We don’t want to make only functional pieces,” Erwan Bouroullec noted. The brothers work in Paris for clients including Cappellini, Ligne Roset, Habitat, Domeau & Peres, Authentics, EandW, Magis, Vitra and Gallery Kreo. They received the grand prix du jury international at the Paris Furniture Fair in 1998. They designed the interior for Issey Miyake’s APOC shop in Paris. In 2011, the Centre Pompidou-Metz hosted a major retrospective on the Bouroullec brothers.