"Perspective de Bort," the new installation by Pia Chevalier

Chatillon Architectes is delighted to collaborate once again with Pia Chevalier by inviting her to create a site-specific installation for the 2024 Paris Design Week.

An independent designer and graduate of the École Boulle in Design and Craftsmanship, Pia Chevalier is based in Paris. Since 2022, her studio has been located at POUSH Aubervilliers, where she works on functional art objects at the intersection of artwork and design.  

With this in situ piece, Pia Chevalier offers a fresh perspective on her creative approach. The immersive installation, centered on the architectural framework of the site, invites visitors to observe, question, and experiment with the interplay of volumes, materials, and surfaces characteristic of her work. This non-functional installation, a departure from her usual practice, nevertheless reflects her world of illusion and homage to materiality.

Clay, which here resembles concrete, is used to sculpt the space, partitioning it to reveal or conceal. The surfaces, alternately smooth and rough, allow Pia Chevalier to explore material and form in all their variations. Like a curtain of beads, the installation reveals a suspended black diamond: the bort. 

Too impure to qualify as a gemstone, bort is traditionally used as an abrasive after being crushed. Here, Pia Chevalier elevates it to the rank of a precious stone, sculpting it like a diamond to emphasize the essential nature of the gesture rather than the material in her creative process.

In this unconventional installation for the designer, the characteristic markers of her work remain recognizable—such as the handles from her "Octopus and Jellyfish" collection or the small, round, colorful candy-like elements that joyfully echo her playful and indulgent universe. Perhaps the real diamond?