for the love of ronan and erwan

it's no secret that i love the bouroullec brothers. i have been a fan of theirs since day one and have continued to pay allegiance to this dazzling design duo from paris. luckily, my day job has given me the chance to work closely with their designs and even catch sneak peeks of their work in sketch form (thanks day job!), so i thought i'd share some pics i just got from europe. these were taken at the cologne furniture fair from this summer, but these were taken by ronan and erwan themselves. i love these guys. i really do.

twig and algues, new space dividing systems due to hit vitra stores and retailers in january are such a radically innovative way to reimagine the idea of walls, division of space and transparency. like most bouroullec projects, the creativity is left up to the consumer: twig and algues are actually comprised of individual elements that can be fit into any number of configurations, shapes and sizes. they can also be layered (or not) to control the amount of light and privacy. (the one down side? they take a frickin eternity to put together) while they may be a bit out there for most homes, i love that their work caters to the customer that experiments with non-traditional forms and dares to imagine they could live in a world full of red twigs and green algues (seaweed in french).

along with algues and twig, the bouroullecs designed a few more pieces for vitra's soon to be launched at home collection. one of them is called box- it is, quite simply, a great little storage unit that has holes in the bottom and a notched out top so that electrical wires can be run through or stored, without the cost of unsightly cords dangling everywhere. box should hit vitra stores after the new year, but i'll have more details soon.

until then, go check out the brothers b and see why i think they are just the coolest guys, ever. they push the envelope of traditional form and managed to infuse functionality into every out-there design. way to be guys...

psst...you can see some additional bouroullec products here, in my very first post on 'my favorite things'.

CLOUD 9 [view of bouroullec's "ideal house" at cologne furniture fair*ronan and erwan bouroullec] heavenly view looking through their cloud storage system into the world of the bouroullecs...

HAPPY TWIG GUY [viewer takes in twig and algues next to it*bouroullecs] people love to look at this stuff. at icff people kept trying to take it apart in the vitra booth. but if they knew how long it took to put all this together, they'd keep their paws off....this stuff takes quite some time to put together...eesh

COME ON IN [walking through cloud and past algues*bouroullec booth at cff]

TWIGGY TWIGGY [twig*bouroullecs] in it's sheet form, close up and the individual component...imagine putting all this together....double eesh

FROM THE SEA [algues*brothers b] french word for algae or seaweed...cool either way. this is my favorite of the two...it can take such amazing shapes

NO WIRE HANGERS! [box*bouroullec brothers] well, no wires showing at least. hide your electrical components in these fun little bouroullec boxes...coming soon to a vitra store near you...well, soon as in 2005