Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, born 1971 and 1976 respectively, in Quimper, France, both studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the École des Beaux-Arts in Cergy-Pontoise. Since 1999 the brothers have shared partnership in their own design firm.

Their work ranges from functional pieces for the home, to architecture in the Maison flottante (Floating House) and the Kvadrat showroom in Stockholm. Today, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec design for numerous manufacturers, including Vitra, Kartell, Ligne Roset, and Cappellini. In parallel with these partnerships, and essential to their creative and conceptual development is the experimental activity they conduct at Galerie Kreo, Paris.

It was in this environment that the imaginative and iconic Algues was created in 2004. In 2000, fusing fashion and interior design, Issey Miyake commissioned them to create a space for his new collection of A-Poc clothes in Paris. Voted Designers of the Year at the Salon du Meuble in 2002, their many awards include the Grand Prix du Design de la Ville de Paris (1998), the New Designer Award at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (New York, 1999) and the Finn-Juhl Prize (Copenhagen, 2008).

The Worknest office for Vitra won the “Best of the Best” Red Dot Design Award in 2008. Their work can be seen in high profile spaces from the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Collaboration between the Bouroullec brothers and Vitra began in 2000 with the office furniture system Joyn, designed for open plan workspaces. First developed between 2000 and 2002, the system is continually being refined and extended. This began the brothers’ special partnership with Vitra, which has added Algues, the Alcove Sofa, Worknest, the Slow Chair, and the Vegetal Chair to the Vitra Home range.