5 questions for Philippe Malouin

A lot of interesting characters cross our paths during Milan Design Week 2015. We asked them 5 exactly the same questions.
Today we met Philippe Malouin, the designer behind this year’s installation for Caesarstone.

1. Who are you?
My name is Philippe Malouin, I run a design studio in Hackney, East London together with Eva Feldkamp. We started about four years ago. The range of my designs is very broad: from furniture and installations to interior design or videography. So we come across many different disciplines.

2. What brings you to Milan?
Caesarstone asked me to design an installation with their materials, which is marble and other natural stones. I was inspired by the relationship between greenery and natural. They occur together in nature and are reunited again here. 20 Planters is a collection of containers in various types of stone.This collection also fits well with our design philosophy: we want to make things, not just design them. In the room next door are the Swings, a set of eight swings in which you can rock trough a baroque, antique mirror hall.

3. What is the most important thing you learned so far in your career?
Always make a one to one scale model! A computer can always make mistakes.
Ask the opinion of others, especially of people whose judgment you actually fear.
It is also very important to try your best and go one step further.
I teach at the Royal College of Art in London, and I always tell my students that they should be an all-round designer, especially in these times. It is much harder now than ten or twenty years ago. Designing something beautiful is not good enough, you must be able to take a good picture, think about branding, do your pr, design a functional website …

4. Why do you do what you do?
I grew up in Canada, in a fairly remote village near Quebec. Because it was so far away from everything, I often kept myself busy in the workshop in our basement. While playing I created my first designs. In high school I studied arts & science. In the period between the secondary and the university I decided to become a designer. It’s a real passion for me. I don’t do this because it happens to be fun or cool, but because I can’t do something else.

5. What is the one thing you don’t want to miss this year?
Sleep!