Paul Denoel, Habitation n°1 (WORLD 2023)

Country:

France

“[…] a house is first and foremost a geometrical object, one which we are tempted to analyze rationally. Its prime reality is visible and tangible, made of well hewn solids and well fitted framework. It is dominated by straight lines, the plumbline having marked it with its discipline and balance. A geometrical object of this kind ought to resist metaphors that welcome the human body and the human soul. But transposition to the human plane takes place immediately whenever a house is considered as space for cheer and intimacy, space that is supposed to condense and defend intimacy. Independent of all rationality, the dream world beckons.” - Gaston Bachelard, The Poetic of Space, translated from the French by Maria Jola What you read above is the starting point of this design. How to articulate geometry, intimacy, poetry, form and function? I found an answer trying to associate the craftsmanship and the techniques of the Shaker communities, the creative philosophy of Charlotte Perriand and the philosophy of Gaston Bachelard. Between vernacular techniques and modernist esthetic, I tried to create poetry with geometry, wood and sharp tools. This chiffonnier was made using sycamore, elm, fumed chestnut and atlas cedar all put together with 272 hand cut dovetails. This project was a theorical project to finish my diploma (Brevet des Métiers d’Arts) in cabinet making. Then I decided to build it.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.