Pierre Yovanovitch: A Homage To Bauhaus

Could the true spirit of the Bauhaus make a comeback? This is certainly the feeling with Pierre Yovanovitch’s new Röllakan collection of 15 uniquely crafted chairs.

Unveiled this month in Paris, the unique series blends French craftsmanship with vintage Swedish textile design with the same respect for mastercrafts and textiles as found in the Bauhaus era. 

In each and every piece, the interior designer’s love of Nordic design shines through: “As a collector of vintage Nordic designs, in particular furniture and design pieces from the Swedish Grace movement, my passion for this genre extends to Swedish textiles of the 20th century”, states Pierre Yovanovitch.

“The genre, championed by the late Märta Måås-Fjetterström, is something I’ve integrated many times into my interior architecture projects. I wanted to bring it further to light by combining it with my furniture design. Needless to say, I have a fascination for vintage Swedish rugs from the 20th century: they were made using the röllakan flat-weaving technique, a traditional Scandinavian approach to weaving which interlocks colored patterns and tightly woven, hand-picked weft. Not only the patterns are striking but the technique makes the rug highly durable”, the French interior architect explains. 

The result is a textural, colourful collection of chairs which blends the simplicity and modernity of the light-oak Clam Chair – reminiscent of an open shell, it was designed by Pierre Yovanovitch in 2021 in collaboration with artisans Atelier Jouffre - with the röllakan textiles: one-of-a-kind, the 15 chairs are upholstered with a unique vintage rug motif, making no one piece alike. 

The collection puts forward the ‘unknown’ talent of expert Nordic röllakan textile artisans - such as Ingegerd Silow, Karin Jonsson and Anne-Marie Boberg, to name a few – and a variety of motifs. While the Marinblå chair features a handcrafted deep blue rug which evokes the Baltic Sea, the Puderrosa comes with a soft and powdery colored textile. The other chairs are named Beige, Blå, Våg, Karamell, Turkos, Rosa, Terra, Sol, Pastell, Godis, Blomma, Mus, Kors, paying tribute to Nordic sceneries, motifs and crafts.

pierreyovanovitch.com