One of the most illustrious fraternal teams in the design world, the Bouroullec brothers are known for their colorful, organic textile shapes and structures. Key works, including the 2008 Vegetal chair, are shown here in their early stages as drawings in a selection curated by the duo exclusively for NOWNESS. Hailing from the northern tip of Brittany, France, the brothers’ curriculum vitae reads like a Who’s Who of the design world, making products for the likes of Danish textile firm Kvadrat, Cappellini and more recently Vitra during the 2013 Clerkenwell Design Week, London. Celebrating their collaboration with a bound volume of sketches, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec: Drawing, the duo have also put together Momentané, a massive retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. In a riot of iridescent color and natural shape and form, the pieces cover some 1,000 square meters of the historic museum that was founded in the early 20th Century and celebrates all aspects of French design. “It’s incredible to see all our work in one place and notice how it has developed,” says Erwan. “The way the show presents design is direct, not jokey, heavy or hard to understand, and I’m happy that our work comes across in this way.”

Are you happy about the evolution of your designs over the years?
Erwan Bouroullec: I don’t know if I’m happy with it, because that would suggest I have nothing left to learn. What I am happy with is the increasing accessibility of our design—it works with people who don’t have a design background or culture, but it also works with those who are really passionate about design. 

How do you make objects that connect with the user or viewer?
EB: I think on one hand we are dealing with machines and creating an object with the materials available, and on the other we have to deal with function. When we create a sofa, we are dealing with fabric, and a character must emerge from this material. You then have to consider its function and the human need for comfort, which is a strong factor. There is a hidden culture for understanding design which we all somehow possess but aren’t fully aware of.

Do you share taste as siblings?
EB: If we were each in a separate room and you asked us to choose our favourite of five different products, we’d probably answer the same. I think you learn that in your childhood: the color schemes of your past, the way your parents decorated their house, the furniture in your school—every year you take in information and build an aesthetic. 

What are you working towards as a designer?
EB: One of my principal goals is to transform reality and enliven the mundane. I like to make things come alive, or indeed make them useful. It’s about working on projects easy enough for you, me or anybody else to understand.

Momentané runs until September 1 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.