The World of Astier de Villatte

Astier de Villatte is…

Astier de Villatte is a project that questions the past, a bit like an archaeologist or a psychoanalyst would do. Things which have witnessed a life that is gone are often a trigger to create new things and a new universe.

Taste is…

When you when you start questioning yourself about taste, it’s a bit like questioning yourself about style. It has to be very much personal but also fluid. We definitely don’t like “official” good taste because it’s annoying and bourgeois, and also a convention and a way to crush other people. It’s so arrogant.

Love is…

We’re Buddhists and the definition of love is to want other people’s happiness. In our work, we try to do things we love and we particularly appreciate giving something that we have made as a gift – another sign of love.

Boring is…

Boring is really the total enemy of creativity, because when you’re bored, everyone can feel it. Same with interior design; you have to find a way to do something that keeps freshness and amusement and a jolliness, you know?

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Convention is…

Excessive convention is often boring. An excess of rudeness is absolutely boring and unbearable. You need some conventions, like politeness, this kind of thing. But in terms of design and aesthetic, probably convention or the fashion of the day are the most boring things.

Beauty is…

Beauty is something so incredibly personal. It’s not a statement. It’s something that sounds true inside of us and it has to resonate right. It’s our own criteria, which we build during our lifetime.

Functionality is…

Functionality is interesting, as long as it comes after beauty. In terms of architecture, we feel comfort and happiness in a place we find with our criteria for beauty rather than function.

Our signature is…

When we started in 1996, no one did this white style; it didn’t exist. We thought that white was slightly disturbing and would bring a kind of violence required to our shapes, which are soft and sweet. Some of our customers complained at the beginning and said, “Can you do it a bit softer?”. At the time maybe it was a bit vulgar, just a kind of trashy white. But we liked it from Day One and then eventually other people liked it as well.

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Perfection is…

In French, we say “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. Perfection is a goal; it’s something you cannot reach. It would be excessive pride to think that we do perfect things. Something perfectly done, perfectly finished, would be dead. We should be happy with imperfection.

Time is…

Time is, of course, the ultimate luxury. The Greeks had two words for time: chronos, from which came chronology, and ion, which is time suspended. This is the time of creation. When you’re in the middle of creating, time is suspended and it’s not the same time.

Detail is…

We are maniacs for details. They give you the feeling that you are accomplishing your work. Our new Paris guide is made on letterpress so that the letters are dancing around the page. Quirky details like this, which almost look like a mistake, give life to things.

Secrecy is…

We’re not into secrets. We think that secrets are boring and we should share our experiences with people. We get scolded by our friends, who say stop talking about somewhere that’s great, but we think that it’s better to share what’s good and if the place gets crowded it means they deserve it. When we don’t talk about places and share our secrets, then places close down because they don’t have enough customers.

Inspiration is…

The word inspiration is universal and we all need it in our daily lives. Inspiration can come from some ethical or spiritual interest that we need to have in life – otherwise our lives are totally empty.

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