Centre Pompidou-Metz
Rome-born Chiara Parisi, art historian, exhibition curator and director of Centre Pompidou- Metz, has a sunny nature, like the joyful lilt in her voice. At the Centre International d’Art et de Paysage de l’île de Vassivière, at the Monnaie de Paris, at Nuit Blanche events in Paris and at Villa Medici, her exhibitions have never failed to surprise, provoke and delight!
How did the partnership between Centre Pompidou-Metz and Tectona come about?
In autumn 2022, we asked world-renowned gardener, botanist, biologist and landscape gardener Gilles Clément to imagine the south garden of Centre Pompidou-Metz, which is in the middle of a highly urbanised environment. All the slabs in the garden were eliminated in order to encourage rich biodiversity and abundant vegetation and to create a tranquil haven in dialogue with the wooden architecture of Shigeru Ban. A “garden in movement” in conversation with art.
It’s a landscape in movement, as described by Gilles Clément, a garden landscape full of emotion and bathed in a strange ‘golden’ light, which is due to the Jaumont stone sourced from Moselle. In combination with the flora —trees, plants and colourful flowers— and the colour of the Tectona furniture, you experience the awe that comes from witnessing a stunning sunset, whatever the time of day! It’s a magical experience that invites visitors to take a siesta, to enjoy a meal, to read, to daydream. Our public embrace the art of farniente. A museum has to be a place where you can not only visit exhibitions but also somewhere where you can wander around, dream, admire the architecture, enjoy the design.
Tectona furniture selection
To allow everyone to enjoy the garden, architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines themselves chose Tectona’s teak furniture because it provides a visual link with the wooden frame structure of the museum and furthermore the careful design of the chairs and benches fits in with the architectural style. And last but not least, Tectona furniture can withstand the elements, sunshine and continuous use by visitors!
Which Tectona chair or armchair do you prefer? The armchair of the new Soleil collection created by the incredible Martin Szekely is a delight. It is indeed, in the words of this worldfamous designer known for his extremely refined style, a “haute couture work”. Use of larch, a rare wood, in the slats makes me think of natural shadows cast by the sun! And in passing I’m also in love with the Tectona hammock, ideal for farniente!
If you had to suggest an artist to create an installation or work of art using Tectona furniture, who would it be and what would the brief be?
Without a shadow of a doubt, Maurizio Cattelan! He is passionate about design; even before becoming an artist he ran a design gallery. He’d create something disruptive on which we would of course be able to sit… but not chairs. Maybe a table whose legs are chairs in reverse, or something else as crazy, playful and unexpected as only Maurizio can imagine!
