Form and Material Design Studio

Director: François Azambourg
Assistant designer: Clémentine Chambon
Administrative and academic assistant: Véronica Rodriguez

Design Standpoint

The Form and Material Studio offers a reflection on methods of production, and on specifics of materials: manipulating, questioning, testing methods of production of an object, becoming aware of and experimenting with the repercussions of these methods on the form and usefulness of the object; questioning the materials through direct manipulation to appreciate their qualities; developing formal imagination –tackling the question of shape by putting into form. The studio focuses on the intimate relationship between form and materials through an experimental approach. On the one hand, form is not indifferent to material. The essential question posed by design is “What form and shape can this material take?” a question open to experiment. On the other hand, moving away from the material, or even the industrial process (of the machine) means one can explore all paths possible as far as form and shape are concerned. So form is the product of fluctuation between the object being physically represented and the recognition of its strict necessity, rather than the result of an arbitrary choice by designer. With this approach, form is devised more that it is designed.

Teaching content

Teaching is developed along the lines used in research. The various stages of the project are conducted with the Materials Workshops at the school and backed up by visits to production sites, in collaboration with industrial partners, and by meetings with many experts. First of all, students analyse documents, observe and carry out field interviews which will enable them to put together a scenario expressing personal standpoints. They then experiment by solid modelling to verify the hypotheses put forward. Particular attention is paid to the quality of the finish, to representation and to suitability for the method of production inherent to the project. A video tape, samples and prototypes illustrate the approach and the final proposal.