Workshops
Back in 1996 I was approached by Herr Alexander von Vegesack director of
Vitra Design Museum to assist in developing a cultural program for him at his
country retreat located close to my home in Rural France. So In cooperation with
the Vitra Design Museum and the Centre Georges Pompidou, we created an international
summer design academy at Domaine de Boisbuchet.
I lived on site for a year
in the domaine's farmhouse looking after the farms animals (400 sheep, 9 horses,
4 beehives, 5 pigs, 30 chickens, and 2 geese) and ran a full 6 week summer program
of very improvised and spontanious workshops. Since those early days the workshops
have grown into the fantastic international workshops they have now become.
The international summer workshops are offered from July through mid-September. The courses are led by renowned designers, architects and artists who live and work together with the participants for a period of six to ten days.
Concept
The goal of the workshops is not to design a “perfect” product but
rather to provide insights into the design process and the associated challenges
of rational thinking, creativity and manual skills. The programme places an emphasis
on practice-oriented, creative work, complemented by lectures and discussions.
The spectrum of topics extends from product design, graphic arts, photography,
architecture, and exhibition design to the creation of jewellery. The courses
incorporate experimental approaches as well as mechanical craftsmanship.
Since 1996, up to 30 courses have taken place each summer at Boisbuchet, with a total of more than 3000 participants interested in design and architecture from some 50 nations over the years. Some have planned their stay as a complement to their studies, others as a creative time-out from everyday work life. They have all benefited from an intensive week of living and working with like-minded individuals from all over the world.
A bit about the Domaine ...
The Domaine de Boisbuchet is a country estate in the Southwest of France at
the border between the Charente and Limousin regions. The grounds extend across
ca. 150 hectares – with historic and new buildings, gardens, meadows, fields,
woods and a lake for swimming and fishing. To the south, the estate is bordered
by the Vienne River. Some 20 km of riding and hiking trails can be accessed directly
from the grounds. The nearest village, Lessac, is 2.5 km away.
The historic buildings – manor house, “dépendance”,
farmstead, stables and mill – were constructed around 1860. Over the past
years, a number of experimental buildings were erected within the context of
the workshop programme that present a fascinating contrast to the traditional
buildings: three bamboo houses by the Colombian architect Simon Velez and a garden
pavilion constructed from wood and cardboard by Shigeru Ban of Japan. Both architects
represented their countries with buildings at Expo 2000.
The quiet and freedom offered by the natural setting are what give Boisbuchet
its particular charm and appeal. Back in the 19th century, a landscape park was
laid out at Boisbuchet featuring numerous, often rare types of plants. It seamlessly
passes through the hilly woods and across the meadows where horses, donkeys and
sheep graze. Today the estate is run according to ecological principles and the
feeding of human guests and animal residents is largely provided from resources
produced on site.
Fond Memories ....
click a photo to enlarge
