Matali Crasset

The French designer discusses collaboration, colour, inspiration, and her latest project, Le Blobterre de Matali, now on view at the Centre Pompidou in Paris Le Blobterre de Matali looks like some sort of magical forest. Where did the vision for it come from?

I wanted to invent a new ecosystem, so I began by envisioning a fictional territory. I think of it as an imaginary garden. Its about experiencing primitive life in a very contemporary way. Thats kind of a metaphor for how I think about design. I made Blobterre specially for the museum, and I wanted to break away from the usual museum practice of showing lots of dead objects. I was more interested in using the space as a field for experimentation, and to create a multi - sensory experience filled with all sorts of sights, sounds and smells.

How did you arrive at the title?

The French designer discusses collaboration, colour, inspiration, and her latest project, Le Blobterre de Matali, now on view at the Centre Pompidou in Paris Le Blobterre de Matali looks like some sort of magical forest. Where did the vision for it come from?

I wanted to invent a new ecosystem, so I began by envisioning a fictional territory. I think of it as an imaginary garden. Its about experiencing primitive life in a very contemporary way. Thats kind of a metaphor for how I think about design. I made Blobterre specially for the museum, and I wanted to break away from the usual museum practice of showing lots of dead objects. I was more interested in using the space as a field for experimentation, and to create a multi - sensory experience filled with all sorts of sights, sounds and smells.

How did you arrive at the title? 

Its made up. We created a whole language for the project, including a glossary for the vegetation. We invented characters, too. Flom is half - flower, half - man; and estratoofs are multi - sensory dome structures made of different

types of vegetation. In the world of Blobterre, its always spring, a season symbolic of energy, growth and optimism.

Is the exhibit interactive, too?

Yes, visitors become explorers as they move through the environment and make connections between abstraction and reality.

Youve designed more practical things, like couches, lights, jewellery, even a spatula for Alessi. Whats your favourite aspect of the design process?

I find Im taking on the role of creative midwife. Its becoming less about aesthetics or form and more about enabling collaborations to happen. Im interested in how common intentions and values emerge and take shape, and then how they unite into a network of partnerships. Trust is important, too, and the right partners make a project stronger. This is really true with a project Ive been working on with Cedric Casanova, who runs a small shop and cafe in Paris, La Tete dans Les Olives, which sells olive oils. I designed a series of carafes and oil tasting glasses for him. Thats been a very close collaboration.

Is a muftidisciplinary practice important to you?

I dont try to work that way, but people seem to feel comfortable asking me to do things Ive never done before. For Blobterre, I had never created a real world, but I used the same design process as I do with anything I work on. Basically, I just let my imagination run wild.

You also let colours run wild. All of your projects are loaded with bright colours.

Colour is life. Why limit yourself?