Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec: Bivouac, a mid-career exhibition of work by two of the most exciting and innovative designers working today, will be on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago from October 20, through January 20, 2013.
Born and based in France, the Bouroullecs bring high-tech manufacturing ideas to standard furniture and design formats, such as the communal kitchen table and the basic dining chair, resulting in timeless, straightforward products devoid of trendy gimmicks.
The brothers not only design elegant and beautiful objects-chairs, sofas, lamps, tables, and dishware-but they also develop pioneering hybrid forms that defy categorization as they shape space in clever new ways.
The title of the show is inspired by this multipurpose hybridity, as a bivouac is a lightweight encampment or shelter that can be adapted to its environment just as Bouroullec products are activated by their end-users and the spaces they inhabit.
Photos: Tahon & Bouroullec