Dezeen Magazine

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Product news: French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have added three new colours to their Corniches shelves for Vitra.

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

The Bouroullec brothers chose dark grey, khaki and orange to supplement the black, white and Japanese red colour options that Swiss furniture brand Vitra launched last year.

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Corniches is a storage system comprising shelves with rounded undersides that can be grouped on a wall to create a landscape of useful surfaces. Made from ASA plastic with a high gloss finish, the shelves are available in several different shapes and sizes.

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's suspension lamps that dangle from tangled wires recently went into production with Flos, while an exhibition dedicated to the brothers' career is currently in progress at Les Arts Décoratifs museum in Paris.

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Vitra has also put its latest range of updates and reissues from the archive of French designer Jean Prouvé into production.

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Here's a short description of Corniches from Vitra:


Corniches arose from the need for small stor- age spaces to spontaneously keep items. "The same way that we hang our beach towel on a rock jutting from a cliff before diving into the sea, we need small storage spaces in everyday life, too”, explains Ronan Bouroullec.

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

And this is the reason that Corniches are neither regular shelves nor simple horizontal surfaces, but rather individual, isolated protrusions in the environments that we create.

Corniches by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Whether as a key rack beside the front door, a spot to put the soap dispenser in the bathroom, as a pedestal for a small collection of objects or as a large installation, Corniches are a new way to use the wall in your living space.

(Related movie) In this movie filmed at Vitra's London showroom during Clerkenwell Design Week, Erwan Bouroullec explains that office environments are changing now there is less storage for papers and books.