In 2008, Dominique Perrault described himself in eleven words : School. Rupture. Defiance. Void. Wall. Earth. Land art. Site. Place. Happiness. And finally, Mesh, a supple material that has structure but whose very essence is to be present and yet be invisible. It is a material that is both rigorous and poetic, virtual yet present and which the architect has used in the past as a way of delineating a geographic area, either as a protection or a way of welcoming, as well as a way of channelling natural or artificial light. This is the same mesh that Dominique Perrault and Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost have adapted, manipulated, contorted and transplanted into the inner workings of their lamps to create the thousands of exceptional and powerful lighting solutions that light up the French National Library, day and night.
Not one who is prone to brandishing himself in the media, his conceptual hedonism comes allied with an infectious enthusiasm and a healthy dose of fun. Dominique Perrault’s signature is barely seen on products. It is something of an event therefore when he uses it, along with that of Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost, on the IN THE TUBE and IN THE SUN collections. It is, in its way, a way of domesticating and refining the raw power of the industrial, of filtering the source into something considered and thought-out, resulting in an object that is comfortable, soft and sophisticated.
