Month: May 2020

Etienne Gounot and Eric Jähnke, two former industrial engineers, created together the company Ozone in 2000. Their concept is based on close collaboration with architects and private individuals to find the perfect lighting. Ozone creates its own lights: chandeliers, ceiling lights, suspensions etc. And some of their products are signed by Michel Boyer, Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Joseph Dirand, Pierre Paulin, Régis Botta and more recently Glenn Sestig. Their products combine Parisian artisan tradition with the latest LED lighting technologies which makes them so unique.

A few years ago Ozone joined the Par Excellence collective in NYC. Thanks to this, we often have a glimpse at Etienne Gounot’s poetic universe. We decided to dive deeper to understand his inspirations and the way he perceives the world around him through a series of photos.

You seem to take a lot of pictures and videos that we can sometimes find on Ozone’s Instagram account. This help us to have a glimpse at your daily inspirations and obviously light, colors, shadow, highlights and reflections are in the spotlight.

Yes I enjoy taking pictures both professionally and in my daily life. Photography captures light. Light reveals space and forms. The link between photography, light and design is strong. However light is immaterial, it always ripes from the vision of the photographer. I felt in this endless pursuit of light. I also use pictures as memories of particular moments when I feel a special atmosphere, a deep connection with myself and the environment.

Social medias only fit to a certain category of pictures due to the small screen sizes and the very quick « consumption » by the spectator. The two have selected are more destined to large prints.

Where does this desire to design and create comes from?

I think the majority of people have a desire to create, design and craft. In our world of increasing virtuality, technology and standardized consumption, we feel a growing separateness between us and the world, which sometimes arouses loneliness and despair. The connection to the materiality, the expression of ourself, the production of something real that we can see and touch fills this gap. Self-esteem and meaning of life are then restored.

But few decide and succeed to live on it. We decided with Eric to live on our creation when we started Ozone 20 years ago. From a handmade table lamp that gave me my first emotion, we have developed a complete design, collection and manufacturing project.

What is one of your favorite Ozone’s creation? Could you describe it with your own words and explain why you chose this one?

Classique V is one of my favorite creation. It is real creation à deux, reflecting both personalities of Eric and me. As a result, it blends in almost every interiors, from a classic heritage to a modernist or minimal apartment. The bold ring contrasts nicely with the organic hanging branches. The delicate paper shade matches well with the sharp polished metal. And the diffused warm light is divine.

Tell us about a view that you can’t get enough of, that strikes you every time?

The perspectives I can catch at the Palais Royal in Paris are striking. It is almost abstract, focus points can hardly be seen. Light through the columns is always changing and plays with them in a spellbinding rhythm. I also feel a strong historical background there.

Day 2

I traveled to Paris so that I could visit several of Par Excellence’s artisans at their workshops. Today, I was so excited to be heading out of town to see Ateliers Saint-Jacques and to meet up with Pierre-Yves Guenec.  I have seen Pierre-Yves so many times in NYC and I was thrilled to finally visit him in his universe.  Ateliers Saint-Jacques is located outside the village of Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse which is about a 40-minute drive from the center of Paris and just past Versailles.  Pierre-Yves instructed me that when I arrive to turn right through the row of trees past the château and to stop by the tower – I never get these kinds of directions in NYC. When the car turned towards the row of trees and I saw the beautiful château at the end of the drive, I had to pinch myself as I knew I was entering a magical place.

The 300 year-old château located on 160 acres – part of Ateliers Saint-Jacques

From left to right

Picture 1: A young apprentice chiseling a rough block of stone

Picture 2: A piece of the finished marble to be used for the stairway of the Dior’s store

Picture 3: Old and new marble pieces outside the workshop

The Foundry: 

We then headed into the Foundry where they cast bronze sculptures (and do restoration work too). They have made several bronze casts of Rodin’s “Gates of Hell” (“La Porte de l’Enfer”) and restored countless other masterpieces, including the Fontaine Bartholdi in Lyon. It was so interesting to see the several step process in bringing a sculpture to life.

This picture is taken during the building of the final mold, made of ceramic. We can see the black of the wax that will be heated to give place to the bronze and the different chimneys installed to pour the metal and let the gas to escape.

From left to right:

Picture 1: Curving wooden wall

Picture 2: Pierre-Yves descending a staircase

Picture 3: The famous blue doors for Van Cleef & Arpels

They also do restoration projects.  They were restoring intricate antique glass doors during my visit.

We also visited an area where they were restoring lanterns and decorative ironwork from a château. I loved seeing the drawings and photos lining the wall to aid in their research.

We then rounded the corner, and the largest bronze doors came into view. The craftsmen were hard at work getting it ready to be installed at the cathedral in Liège.

We then proceeded into a metalworking room where Pierre-Yves described how metal is shaped into decorative elements as seen in the four stages in the photo.

Pierre-Yves in the picture is holding the decorative wheel to illustrate the process.

From left to right:

A workbench and a toolbox – I love how the blue color harmonizes with the coat of arms of the Kings in the photo above (new name: Bourbon blue)

Then I saw the “pièce de résistance”:  Ateliers Saint-Jacques is restoring the railing of the balcony to the King’s bedchamber at Versailles, and here it was in front of me. Seeing the Sun King’s visage reminded me of the history that is steeped in these treasures. The photo shows Pierre-Yves pointing out what was original on the gate.

A drawing of the gate: “Those are made by one of our masters as a survey and is the beginning of the entire restoration process. They are originals, hand drawn and new” Pierre-Yves

Ateliers Saint-Jacques has done multiple projects at Versailles. Several years ago, they rebuilt the Royal Gate at Versailles which was destroyed during the French Revolution of 1789 (The photo used with the title of this story shows part of these gate).

After our four hour tour (which flew by!), we had a coffee in Pierre-Yves’s office. I was struck by this model of a fantastical stone staircase.  It reminded me of the creativity, artistry and passion I saw in each workshop and with each artisan as they restore the past and bring the future of design into being.

Day 1

After dropping off my bags at my hotel, I went straight to the Fondation Louis Vuitton in the Bois de Boulogne to see the exhibition, “Charlotte Perriand: Inventing a New World”. Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999) was one of the top French architects and designers of the 20^th century and was a pioneer of modernity. The exhibition spanned seven decades of her packed career and practically filled every floor of the fondation. I was in for a treat.  In her work she wanted to create functional living spaces in the belief that better design helps in creating a better society. She conceived rooms for the “art of living”.

From left to right: A young Charlotte Perriand, The Fondation Louis Vuitton designed by Architect Frank Gehry in 2014

From left to right

Picture 1: Charlotte Perriand’s iconic tubular chaise longue designed together with Le Corbusier (she was in her 20s at the time!)

Picture 2: A “side by side” chaise longue (one piece of furniture). This would be perfect for our post-pandemic world as you recline in opposite directions. Makes one think of how furniture will be reconfigured in our new way of living after the virus.

Picture 3: Beautiful installation with color and light.  A wonderful example of how lighting is so important in design and can be realized in a creative way.

She renovated this apartment when she moved in and she took design cues from Charlotte and had the wooden kitchen table made at a lower height than normal so that the chairs could be used as dining chairs (while another one was used as a living room chair). She also incorporated leather pulls on her cabinets to mimic the leather on the chairs. I love how she blended ideas of mid-century furniture into her contemporary surroundings. A note for those trying to find space – her small freezer is located underneath the dining table inside the wall.

The design surprises kept coming. As a New Yorker always in need of space, I have constant dreams of “finding” an extra room in my apartment that I never knew existed.  Well, Maïk found her “secret” room!!  During her renovation, the workers were going to install a microwave into the kitchen wall. Maïk happened to be there when they cut the opening out and she put her hand (holding her iPhone) into the opening and took some photos and voilà! There was an amazing space behind the wall with original wooden beams.  It turns out that this area was part of the ornamental sculptural elements on the outside of her apartment building. The beams were in good condition and she only had to put in new flooring and insulate and build new walls. Now she has a cozy 2^nd bedroom.

They literally had to kick me out of the museum as they were closing.  I then headed to meet a friend at her apartment in the 8th for a glass of champagne.  Maïk Bouchayer is a real estate agent with a keen eye for design so I was so looking forward to seeing her apartment for the first time.  As I entered her 7th floor apartment, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the light pouring into the windows, and just beyond was a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. My first thought was, “do you need a roommate?”. I then looked to my left and couldn’t believe my eyes. Right in front of me were four Charlotte Perriand chairs!  The design gods were smiling. Maïk bought them years ago and they have moved with her to each apartment she has lived in.