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COLLECTIBLE: Audrey, Bérénice and Camille, you created Studio Rochée as a collaborative studio and creative laboratory, could you briefly introduce your practice and tell us about your past projects?

“Everything is created with respect for the environment and traditional crafts.”

Studio Rochée: We have somewhat similar academic backgrounds and interests; we were both working in the design and scenography industry - Audrey as an artistic director and scenographer, Berenice as a designer and 3D artist. We became friends and wanted to bring our skills together to work in accordance with our ethics and our sensitivity to ecological issues. In 2019 we were shortlisted for the Design Parade with a radical project about creating a sustainable environment, and the design challenges of a future with less resources.

Camille is a sculptor and three-dimensional artist from Brussels, and a former classmate from art school in Nantes. She first joined us on our project for the Design Parade and we never let her go!

We put our skills and thinking together - as designer, scenographer, and fine artist - to imagine new materials, shapes and objects. Everything is created with respect for the environment and traditional crafts.

C: What does COLLECTIBLE represent for you as a platform or community?

SR: COLLECTIBLE is a great platform for emerging designers, and a place to discover one of a kind, mindful pieces. We feel in tune with the sustainable approach of its founders; we share the same vision about sustainability and the right use of materials in a way that is respectful both of the people working them, and of nature. We also appreciate the crossing of disciplines: art, design, and installation; and the freedom of young creativity on display, which resonates with our own ethos.

C: Without revealing too much, thatch cottage roofs have inspired your scenography for COLLECTIBLE 2021. Could you elaborate a bit more on how they influenced your proposal and why you decided to highlight this specific material for our next edition?

SR: We wanted to work with a natural material, and through our research on traditional and local crafts we became fascinated by the ancient, yet timeless, technique of thatching, and the beauty of this simple raw substance. Thatching is very present in northern Europe and natural fibre architecture is found across the world. We value the opportunity of meeting craftspeople and absorbing their knowledge and history, which we then draw on in our own installations.