In order to change perception, you have to change culture.
BOSTON .
CLIENT: Boston Architectural College. PROJECT: I was asked to speak to students and faculty about the process of design, I proposed living a considered life as a starting point.
NYC.
CLIENT: American Express. PROJECT: To re-think a well-known, existing brand and show the power of design. We chose venerated cleaning products CitraSolv.
USA.
SYRACUSE .
CLIENT: Syracuse University. PROJECT: “Televisuality” was the given theme of the conference where I sung the architectural accomplishments of one genius and visionary Papa Smurf as well as comtemplate the socio-economic impact of mushroom architecture on the world at large.
NYC .
CLIENT: Christopher Welles. PROJECT: I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to conduct an in-depth interview about her father, my favorite filmmaker of all time, Orson Welles.
WORLD .
As an avid listener of those who fearlessly meld together Jazz, Soul, R&B, Electronica, even Gospel, and reshape them into something recognizable yet unfamiliar, intelligent yet emotional, predictable yet unexpected, I merely endeavored to add a layer to the ever-expanding tradition of the “Beat Tape.” Learning the Art of the Jazzy Loop from such masters as Tom Misch, Kiefer, Count Lazy, Eric Lau, Nujabees and countless others, I felt my bassist and partner Darren Frate might have some jam in us, to add to this toast.
WORLD.
In 2008, I wondered what I was doing with my life, struggling to find a point in having founded a design firm in New York City and simultaneously feeling overwhelmingly stimulated by the rewards of my so-called success, a condition difficult for an immigrated French boy not to feel excited about.
But I realized I was asking the wrong questions, instead of wondering what I was doing, I should have been pondering who I was, a much more interesting journey to undertake. And so I started writing, on the subjects that matter to me most, whether death or movies, love or travel, digging deep inside myself to try and unearth the layers of small truths that have accumulated in forty years of existence and hopefully get to know myself.
The result was much more fruitful than I expected. That is because in addition to what I dug up, which would only be valuable to me, I discovered something much more useful: a process to question everything equally, which I have named The Considered Life. It is a tool for examining the choices we make from moment to moment and analyzing the causes and consequences of those decisions so that we may be certain they are ours and ours alone. This is self-consciousness, and empowerment lays within. This tool can be used by anyone, at any time for it is merely a way to think about your own life, a way which helped me define mine. Imagined as the opposite of dogma, The Considered Life simply encourages you to dig within your layers to explore who you really are.
WORLD.
CLIENT: Self. PROJECT: Travelling the world to learn from other cultures is the only form of education I trust, for us and our children. This is an adventure we dub The Bouvarez Relocation Programme.
Making movies along the way is essential so that we don’t forget what we have experienced, and may even learn from! I shoot, direct, edit and score these vignettes.
USA .
CLIENT: Fast Company. PROJECT: Feed conversations about the design process and its connection to our lives, like about the ingenuity of the lowly landline telephone or the need for conviction as we work out design problems.
USA .
CLIENT: The Apartment. PROJECT: With the help of venerated design figures such as Constantin Boym, Philip Wood or Malin + Goetz, we published our own versions of popular myths, seen through their lenses.
NYC .
CLIENT: Dwell Magazine. PROJECT: We gathered friends and acquaintances to discuss the topics of the day around some of the best food on earth.