Bolon and Jean Nouvel Partnership

The Swedish design company, Bolon, has entered into a partnership with the world famous French architect Jean Nouvel. Bolon launched their collaboration with the world renowned architect in their home country of Sweden at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in February of this year and showcased their ‘Create’ collection for a second time at the Milan Furniture Fair in April.

The new Create collection, blurred the edges between floor, ceiling and walls with a spectacular, gravity-defying installation that saw multiple cast figures of Jean Nouvel suspended from the ceiling, perched upside down against the wall, and sitting nonchalantly on a park bench.

"My idea was to use the Bolon material as not just flooring but to create a Bolon universe, exclusively a universe of floors: no ceiling, no walls... just floors. Equally I thought it was important to incorporate people in the installation, to see them react to it, lie on it, touch it and so on. At first I was going to use regular mannequins but following on from Xavier Veilhan's sculpture of me in Versailles in 2009, I decided to make four copies and use them. I thought it was very funny having four flies like this. As an architect you have to take the opportunity for a bit of humour when you can, as designing buildings can feel like quite a serious business."

‘He’s a big name in the industry,’ says Annica, ‘and he’s ambitious when it comes to innovation and new possibilities.’

In the New Year, Bolon will be initiating a collaborative concept called Architect Friends, which means that, in conjunction with the new partnership, Monsieur Nouvel will become the company’s first “Architect Friend”. Monsieur Nouvel is one of the most renowned, award-winning architects in the world today. The selection of Nouvel for the debut performance reflects the admiration that Marie and Annica Eklund – Bolon’s creative director and CEO, respectively have for the architect’s professionalism and personality.

“We are naturally tremendously proud and delighted to have formed this partnership with Jean Nouvel, who is one of the world’s most outstanding and talented architects, and it gives us a fantastic opportunity to display the full potential of our floors,” Marie Eklund concludes.

Bolon