IPJ 12 | Notes from the Road
I’m writing from Orly Airport today, taking a short breather and reflecting on the past ten days in Europe, with a few more still to go. This is perhaps a bit of a departure from the standard IPJ essay, but this trip was specifically organized around the ethos of In Practice and a number of thoughts have been rattling around in my head.
I started in Copenhagen, attending the excellent 3 Days of Design festival. I happened to go on a bit of a lark last year, and I credit it with reinvigorating my own push to more seriously document and understand craft around the world. Like most design festivals, it draws makers from everywhere, but unlike many others, much of it takes place in small studios, historic buildings and intimate spaces rather than large exhibition halls. There is a distinct sense of community and connection and, it must be said, Danish summer is pretty close to paradise.
Through Ark Journal, one of my favorite design publications, I visited the studio of glass artist and Loewe Craft Prize finalist Maria Koshenkova. There, I spontaneously ran into Georg Mengel, an engineer turned furniture maker who designed one of my favorite pieces in my own home, the MA Stool. After seeing Maria’s kinetic and organic glass work, we walked over to Georg’s small studio to look at some of his newest pieces.
Earlier that week, I had the opportunity to dine with my old friend Matt Orlando, whose restaurant ESSE was recently awarded its first Michelin star.
Matt’s work is as much a reflection of craft as anything I have encountered in Japan. Each dish arrives looking deceptively simple, but that simplicity conceals extraordinary amounts of forethought and preparation, sometimes days of work condensed into a few bites.
The paradox, of course, is that the more skill one possesses, the easier things appear.
The more time I spend around craftsmen, chefs and makers, the more I realize that the best work often rewards attention, revealing all the effort and years of practice often taken for granted at first glance.
From Copenhagen, I headed to Paris to interview some of my favorite artisans working in the luxury space. These conversations will eventually become a new feature on IPJ (more on that soon).
I spent an evening with renowned shoemaker Christophe Corthay, whose work, much like Matt Orlando’s cooking, contains immense difficulty within an elegant final form. Christophe spoke about the path dependency of shoemaking. Get an early step (for example, a tiny error while carving the last) even slightly wrong and, much like errant navigation while sailing, the entire process drifts off course.
The following morning, I visited Maison Bonnet, the legendary eyewear artisans who have been making bespoke glasses for clients ranging from Yves Saint Laurent and Le Corbusier to Pedro Pascal and Brad Pitt for nearly a century. We have collaborated before and I always enjoy spending time watching Franck Bonnet, the fourth-generation head of the house, work at his bench.
Luxury is an area I want to explore further in future essays, particularly as it relates to authorship, eco-systems and how certain forms of craft survive and evolve.
As I hustled toward the airport, I made one final stop to pick up a few loaves of bread at Jack Henry, a relatively new bakery run by 23-year-old American, Jack Kos. I’ve known Jack since he was about nine years old and have been amazed to watch him build a reputation for producing some of the most compelling bread in Paris. His commitment to whole and ancient grains and his obsessive focus on process place him in rarefied company.
Once again, I found myself returning to the same though that hit me hard during dinner at ESSE—the very best work often understates effort and judgement, which I think is one of the defining characteristics of mastery itself. Whether the end user realizes it or not, really doesn’t matter.
From Paris, I head to Barcelona and then London, with several more interviews to follow. I’ll return to the archives and more traditional profiles in the coming weeks.
Until then, wishing everyone a wonderful start to summer.