The machine that answers back: Patrick Jouin

Fifteen years of 3D printing put Patrick Jouin in an unusual position: he treats the machine as a partner in the conversation, not as an output device. Tamu, unveiled in 2019 with the support of Dassault Systèmes and its collaborative platform, is the clearest evidence — a folding chair drawn to use as little space and as little material as manufacturing will allow, its logic borrowed from the efficiency of nature. The Paris studio calls this third track prospective design and runs it alongside its industrial and urban work, pushing at biomaterials and at the point where craft meets technology. The habit shows up in the furniture: fewer parts, cleaner joints, nothing the object can do without.

American projects meet that discipline in two Pedrali collections carried by La Mercanti — the Ester family and the Social modular seating — specified where a lobby, a restaurant floor or a client lounge has to look effortless and still take a beating.