Factory

A cornerstone of Paris Design Week, Factory shines a spotlight each year on a new generation of international designers. This year’s edition sees co-curators Jean-Baptiste Durand and Simon Geringer take over 116 rue de Turenne and Espace Commines with a selection celebrating the singularity of creative practices and the diversity of contemporary approaches.

Free from categories and trends, Factory offers a nuanced panorama of contemporary design, where experimentation, craftsmanship, and formal research enter into dialogue. FORMÆ met with the two curators to discuss their vision of this emerging scene and the challenges shaping the future of design.

3 Questions to
Jean-Baptiste Durand and Simon Geringer

What principles guided your selection?
We did not set out to highlight any particular trend. Our intention was to present a panorama—necessarily an incomplete one—of contemporary creation, with the broadest and most cosmopolitan perspective possible. Among the values that matter most to us are singularity, boldness, and sincerity. These three principles reflect our desire not to align with trends, but instead to champion work that is deeply personal and genuinely committed.

How do the works on display engage in dialogue with one another?
For this edition, we deliberately chose to move beyond labels such as craftsmanship, collectible design, or industrial design. Instead, we wanted to present works that converse with one another, revealing a diverse and multifaceted creative landscape that begins with craftsmanship and stretches toward the boundaries of art. More than typology, what matters is quality. Our selection reflects this dynamic through the multiplicity of approaches it brings together.

What do you see as the defining challenge for the next generation of designers?
I would say that one of the defining challenges today is integrating design into the reality of a warming climate, whose effects we are only just beginning to experience. The question is how design, and creative practice more broadly, can find their place within a world whose limits we now understand to be real. While I sometimes feel it is unfair to judge certain collectible pieces solely through this lens, the environmental impact of design and production is, in my view, a responsibility shared by everyone. That said, this issue primarily concerns large-scale manufacturing, which is not what Factory is about. •

Photos : High School Lover Bench by ­sashaxsasha and Apollinaria Broche • © Mathilde Hiley • Milk Chair, Rush Drayton • © courtesy of Rush Drayton • Vase by Octave Rimbert-Rivière • © courtesy of Octave Rimbert-Rivière• OMNIBITE | wood joint, Behance • © courtesy of Behance