French designer Mathieu Lehanneur brings together his most emblematic pieces for a cosmology-inspired exhibition, set within the modernist walls of Villa Noailles in southeastern France.
Showcased as part of this year's Design Parade Hyères, Lehanneur's Particle Horizon exhibition collates a number of his most significant designs.
These include his ocean-like marble furniture and Les Cordes chandelier.
The exhibition takes its name from astrophysics, aiming to reflect both the infinitely small and the scale of a universe – a source of inspiration for many creators, particularly during the Renaissance.
According to the designer, in cosmology the "particle horizon" describes the region of what has or has not already been observed in the universe, what has existed and what does not exist yet.
More specifically, it is a measurement of the range of observation or experience we have about the nature of the universe since the Big Bang.
Named after this term, the exhibition is described as "a journey, a landscape and a laboratory." It acts as "a multitude of open doors to our human condition of sentient beings, thinking and breathing".
"This is a brief overview of what we will leave of our passage," Lehanneur added.
The show is organised into three different spaces that each mirror Lehanneur's main areas of interest: the Swimming Pool, the Squash Court and the Terrace.
A series of herbal air purifiers arranged to resemble a DNA strand are featured in the Swimming Pool space, which diffuse misted, filtered water from their organic structures.
In the centre of the room is a large well, which reveals the Villa Noailles' emblematic swimming pool.
Other objects on display include Lehanneur's Les Cordes chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which is designed to look like illuminated loops of rope.
"I never wanted to choose a domain, a material or a function," said Lehanneur. "I am more interested in the human adventure since we have left the cave."
"My objects feed on who we are, deeply: our instincts, our beliefs, our perceptions or our physiology," he continued. "We are living beings surrounded by things. Things that reflect us and help project ourselves forward."
The designer wanted to create a more meditative and contemplative mood in the Squash Room, which displays his new Domestic Forest bench formed from a smoothed out log.
Positioned opposite this is a block of black marble sculpted to look like the sea, and the Tomorrow is Another Day screen, which was originally designed for a palliative care service, and shows an image of the coming weather.
The adjoining Terrace room presents a series of works called The Age of the World, which comprises a collection of enamelled ceramic jars that are built up in layers to represent the ages of the population in a given country.
Dedicated to designing works that draw connections between the living world and objects, Lehanneur recently designed a series of tables, benches and stools made from chipped blocks of marble and bronze that mimic the surface of the ocean.
The designer has also sculpted marble to achieve the effect of a rippling pool for a 7.5-metre-long installation in a French chateau.