This week, Aire met Lyon Béton, a French company that manufactures concrete furniture. Discover with us their responsible manufacturing methods and their inspirations to create innovative furniture!
Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Lyon Béton is a French design studio that creates concrete furniture pieces and bold accessories through a different design approach, based on working with molded material.
How did you enter the world of concrete furniture?
We have known the furniture world for over 20 years. We were then intermediaries between major French retail brands and factories or workshops abroad. The only variable that interested our clients was price, it had to be as low as possible. Almost no appreciation for design work and products with a very short lifespan. We quickly understood that we wanted something else.
Why did you choose concrete furniture as your preferred furniture?
When designing furniture from molded material, you enter a fundamentally different creative logic. The starting point is no longer a flat panel machined or folded with a machine. It is no longer about assembling known elements. The shape becomes completely free. Creativity is almost limitless. We use concrete, a complex material to work with that imposes its constraints and provides a framework. This framework is our space of freedom, our playground. We invite a few bold designers who have understood our approach and its potential.
Can you describe your creative process and your way of working (especially with your designers and your concrete furniture)?
A Lyon Béton product must pass 3 filters:
- Be functional
- Be aesthetic
- Tell a story.
This is probably the last point that makes our products stand out. It is also the most difficult to grasp. We like to think that our creations are unique while having a grounding in our collective memory. We are a bit nostalgic for certain design eras without being retrograde. If, in addition, our products can bring a little poetry into people's lives, then we know we have achieved something. This is the case with the cloud-shaped toilet paper holder Cloud, designed by artist and designer Bertrand Jayr, which remains one of our best sellers.
We take this opportunity to give a little shout-out to our friends at Popee
Do you think your profession will have to reinvent itself? Especially with the pandemic we are going through?
Yes and no. We are quite convinced that people's fundamental needs haven't really changed. However, we must adapt to some new uses that have emerged, such as the rise of working from home or the explosion of online shopping. A few years ago, people liked to touch or try before buying. This barrier has been lifted, and nowadays it's not uncommon to buy an armchair without ever having sat on it. For us, this is an opportunity and at the same time a challenge because our products are much more convincing in person than through a screen. It's up to us to be better communicators.
See this post on Instagram
Can you explain to us what FRAG is?
FRAG is a product that has been close to our hearts for a long time. Urban art inspires us a lot, and we were looking for a relevant medium to bring it into our homes. Existing supports were not convincing. Street art on a canvas, is it still street art? The concrete we already knew well appeared as an obvious choice.
A FRAG is 4 cm of raw concrete, fiber-reinforced to be stronger and lighter. Its surface is flat and smooth to the touch while retaining the raw concrete look well known to urban artists.
The simple and invisible hanging system presses the Frag against the wall. The effect is striking: a real piece of wall torn from the street.
The first to adopt this medium were the Lyonnais from the Birdy Kids collective with whom we still work.
This medium adapts to all street art techniques: spray paint, collage, chalk, stencil... and we are also able to print artworks directly on concrete in partnership with a printer specialized in art publishing.
Do you think decoration and therefore furniture have an impact on our moods and well-being?
Corbusier, who inspires us a lot, once said: “Where order is born, well-being is born.” We quite agree with this statement. Well-designed and aesthetic furniture brings serenity and well-being. For decoration, it’s a bit different. It can contribute to this well-being, but the role we prefer for it is to bring a bit of madness and the unexpected, a source of creativity.
How are your products sustainably responsible?
We are against the idea of disposable furniture and decoration. From design to manufacturing, everything is made so that our products last a long time. Concrete is a material that works very well for this. If you take care of it, our furniture will outlive you. Our dream is to see Lyon Béton furniture being sold by antique dealers or second-hand sellers in 40 or 50 years.
We work to limit the impact of our creations on the environment at every level: in the composition of products, manufacturing, packaging, and transport. We make progress every day. We still have a long way to go.
What are your sources of inspiration?
While our inspiration is influenced by the urban world and architecture, its source runs deeper than that. We are absolutely fascinated by the aesthetics and logic of the Bauhaus school. We sometimes look towards other movements that explored the combination of geometric forms in the service of a philosophy or way of life: the De Stijl school, Art Deco, Brutalism, or more recently Memphis.
And finally, what do you think of the Pegboard and modular design? Should we prefer a single-function object? Or does multifunctionality offer solutions that fit our lifestyles?
We love seeing how people incorporate our products into their daily lives even when they repurpose their original use.
The Pegboard you made is a good example. At Lyon Béton, some of our furniture has this playful and multifunctional aspect. The modular storage cubes Dice have revealed their full potential in the hands of our customers. Some use them as hi-fi furniture (they are the perfect size to store vinyl records) or as log holders, others as room dividers or bedside tables.
Our concrete plant pot shaped like a nuclear power plant chimney has also been repurposed many times to become a trash bin, an umbrella stand, or even a pencil holder.
We are currently working on a somewhat hybrid piece of furniture, both a side table and an aquarium or terrarium. We don’t yet know what our customers will make of it, but we can’t wait to find out!
Feel free to check out our latest article: Ekhi Busquet, creativity in the service of the common good
Interview conducted by Clara Didier
Formatted by Coralie Mottu
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