Chasing the Extraordinary
By: Joann Plockova
Photo: Honza Zima, La Mamounia
Childhood Wonders and Mysteries
Jouin Manku’s two universes are purity and wonder, which to me sounds like something similar to glass and light. Can you talk about those two universes?
Patrick Jouin: Wonder certainly comes from childhood. The idea of escaping reality. Creating stories. Since forever, I am easily in a dream. I always find it amazing when you start to draw something – in a few seconds you are in another dimension. Like when you close your eyes and imagine something. But here, it’s not a dream. Because it’s a drawing, it’s in front of you. It’s a project, piece of architecture, an object. And so there is this idea of being on the edge of something which is functional and which creates emotion, a surprise; that’s why our profession is amazing. Because we can really create wonder. We will always try to go toward that, to something positive. But with wonder, you can have two worlds.
Sanjit Manku: We like building up subtleties in layers of emotion. It’s a kind of complexity. It’s a layer cake of different emotions. You can really play with all of them. As Patrik said, one of the things we never work with is fear. We always try to go toward the positive, but we can change that into mystery, a mysteriousness. Like a field is kind of mysterious. You run toward it, you slow down, you stop, you crouch a little bit, you’re a little bit apprehensive, but you’re curious. We also focus on the time of those things, for example the duration of that experience. Because, with sugar for example, you can’t just have it all the time. You’ve got to have variations. And it makes you appreciate something more.
Cooking with Emotions
Can you talk more about this complexity in your work? That mix of emotions.
SM: We like to make parallels. For example, there is something really beautiful when you’re cooking, when you’re making sweet things. There are a couple of secrets. One of them is you put in salt. It opens up your taste buds. Or what the French do, the reason why they make such great tarts, is they never just use fruit. They put a layer in between. We find parallels in our work where we are doing the same thing with spaces.
PJ: All these big concepts are driving us. As Sanjit explained, it’s complexity with depth. Like with pastry, we mix all these ingredients. But we are not afraid of wonder and mystery. It’s like another signature. So when we do a big chandelier with Lasvit, for example, it really brings together this big emotion.
Jouin Manku approaches every project by doing away with the boundaries between architecture, interiors and objects. How does that look like in practice?
SM: The more scales we can play with – from an object to space to architecture to buildings to the space in between – the bigger the palette we have to play with. And we’re quite adept at that. But in the end, it’s not about bigger is better. It’s more about, how do you chase the extraordinary. By definition, it doesn’t happen very often. The smallest thing can break a magic moment, break the spell. So, by being aware of architecture, interiors and objects, we’re using all of these different aspects that we have to conjure up these extraordinary moments.
When Ducasse, Lasvit and Jouin Manku Met in Macau
Speaking of magic, your first project working with Lasvit was the Alain Ducasse restaurant at Morpheus in Macau. What were the origins of that idea?
PJ: We have this gigantic restaurant in the middle of the city. It was like a very mysterious place. People are gambling. It’s a bit crazy. I imagined when people go to Macau, or Las Vegas, they are almost escaping their life. Like they’re on another planet, another dimension. So we had a space, which was gigantic for a gourmet restaurant, which is supposed to be intimate. And we had a place with almost no view. No light. So, we decided that this place will be almost like an enchanted forest. Or like you are eating in the middle of a chandelier.
SM: It was a bit of a combination of the two cultures. Alain Ducasse is French, and Macau located in Asia. We had this idea of water in a garden, like those you find in Asia that are incredibly beautiful, the idea of reflection. But doing it not in a way that is, let’s say, a traditional chandelier, but transforming it into something a bit more natural. So, this idea of almost a bamboo spirit floating over top of these water pools and being on kind of lily pads. But as Patrick said, it was also to give people a view, to give them privacy and the experience that they are walking into something. A little spot in the forest.
And how was your collaboration with Lasvit on this project?
SM: For this particular project I think it was very technical. The idea is that everything had to float. You had water, and then you had this reflective ceiling. And you’re not supposed to see all the technical aspects. It’s a magic trick – all these things are floating in space and you’re slowly walking through them, discovering mystery.
PJ: The fabricator at Lasvit was able to help us create this mystery. You have this astonishing light and glass installation, but someone comes by and sees a cable that is too big, and in one second the dream is over. And that’s why it’s important to meet people who understand that they have to find a solution, so the emotion, the mystery, the spell is still on.
SM: You need poetic engineers. And they’ve got them, it’s part of Lasvit’s DNA.
Ode to Marrakech
Let’s talk about La Mamounia. I know that you’ve worked on two phases of this legendary hotel. Tell me about the Centenary Chandelier, which was inspired by traditional Berber jewelry. How did you arrive at the idea of this looping piece of jewelry suspended from the ceiling?
PJ: We wanted to embrace Moroccan culture. To create an ode to Marrakech. When you arrive, you need something which says glamour, and at the same time, Morocco. That’s where this idea of Berber jewelry began. We started to look through books and visit museums in Marrakech. Also, we wanted to mix two cultures. The big French chandelier, and this Moroccan-designed hotel. We had one big chandelier in glass and another, with a red rope and handmade silver pendants, inside of it. One embracing the other, the two playing together. The one inside is made by Fez craftsmen. The other, of course, by Lasvit. So we really have two chandeliers made by two companies, by two cultures, together.
But this is not the only luminaire you and Lasvit have created for La Mamounia. Can you speak to one other?
PJ: We have the chandelier in the Pierre Hermé Salon de Thé. It’s the first installation we did. It was very pure and inspired by the Islamic geometry of the ceiling. We extruded the pattern and cut it also with a mathematical approach. But you only see glass, the structure is hidden. It exemplifies Lasvit’s reputation for precision, dedication, craftsmanship, technique, and beauty all mixed together.
Bringing Memories to the Future
You are also collaborating with Lasvit on another project on a long-term basis. How is it progressing and when will you show it to the public?
PJ: In this project, I really tried to design something which expresses Czech glass, Bohemian glass, which is totally different than French cut crystal glass and Murano glass. We put one simple piece on the trunk of a tree, so it imprints the forest. Because the relation of the forest and glass is apparent; you need the fire and the forest to make glass. I wanted them to speak together. It’s a kind of brutal meeting, because it burns the wood. But in the end, the wood imprints the glass and it has the memory of the wood. So, it’s like the organic and the mineral speaking. I think there is the poetry of Czech glass in this. The project will premiere at Euroluce 2025 during Salone del Mobile.
It is important for you to combine traditional craftsmanship with technology, history with a certain vision of the future. Can you explain why?
PJ: I would just follow what Sanjit said before: we are using all the ideas, all the work of the generations before us, including the discovery of glass. We use the whole history of humanity. We have this with us, which is fantastic, but we have to push the limits, so the people who will come after us can go further.
