Allée is Trocmé's first contribution to Bernhardt Design’s Global Edition. Her work joins that of other highly acclaimed designers Arik Levy, Patrick Jouin, Christian Biecher, CuldeSac, Fredrikson Stallard, Jaime Hayon, Jeffrey Bernett, Lievore Altherr Molina, PearsonLloyd, Shin Azumi, and Yves Béhar, and meets the collection’s criteria of purity, simplicity, timelessness and permanence, set by the Creative Director of Bernhardt Design, Jerry Helling.
Trocmé chose the name Allée since “the word relates to the stringent design of French classical gardens – a pathway that is bordered by strict lines of trees, between which you can stroll freely so there is a contradiction of freedom with formation.” As with a French formal garden, the chair possesses a tension in its form, like many of the buildings Trocmé admires. “We all know that a chair is architecture in miniature as mid-century modernists proclaimed, but it is vital to go beyond that statement to create pieces which are wholly original and are suitable for modern temperament, yet embody their own personalities.”
Allée has equal curves and straight lines with shards appearing to have been sliced off the edge of a precipice. “I lived in St Germain-en-Laye for a while, and the garden there, designed by Le Notre, drops off a cliff. These shards are the cliff.” Trocmé describes this juncture: “There is one moment in the chair, at a point of union in the frame, where three planes meet with equal confidence and the form is multi-directional, that the chair appears to levitate." The kick of the back leg echoes the Allée theme while making the chair appear kinetic. “It looks as if it were about to walk away,” states Trocmé.
Allée is suitable for most environments from formal boardrooms to contemporary museums as well as the home. Allée is also designed for dining comfort, befitting a square or rectangular table as well as circular or oval, with a balance of curves and straight lines merging around any superficial form. The Allée is 29”h x 21”w x 23”d and available in solid maple in a variety of finishes and paint colors.
Please find press release attached for further information.
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