Last month while in Paris, I was fortunate enough to visit the home of Alice and Benjamin Paulin. Together, they run Paulin, Paulin, Paulin - a family business dedicated to developing and preserving the works of Benjamin’s father, Pierre Paulin.
During my visit, the team was preparing for Design Miami Paris and had a special installation of various Tapis-Sièges (rug-seats) on display. Our full interview with Benjamin Paulin can be found below.
One of the most interesting experiences during my visit was experiencing the TSSX prototype downstairs. What’s the story behind it?
The TSSX was initially based on an idea of my father in ‘85/’87. It was a concept that was supposed to combine five Tapis-Sièges, each three meters by three meters, connected together with a special fabric that was inspired by the Jardin à la Française - Versailles garden’s graphic transposition.
The intention was to create a space where people could sit together and experience TV from all around the world, like Chinese TV, Russian TV, or American TV all together. At the time it was a very modern idea and we really appreciated the intention of uniting people and creating a shared moment. With TSSX, we wanted to produce this idea, but using a new technology that would make sense today.
As I was working on the Miraval project (see below) with my friend Damien, I heard about the SoundX program that was created for the deaf community. It’s basically a project that uses artificial intelligence to transpose sound into vibrations. With this, deaf people can experience music or even feel a car coming in the street. We thought it was an amazing technology and we proposed that we could include his technology within our project.
We would like to create an immersive and augmented experience for everyone in the room, whether it be for discussions, performances, music, poetry, etc. Everything happening in the room can be transformed into vibrations at the same time.
That’s incredible. This was also a collaboration with Nike, right?
Yeah, for the fabric we worked with Nike who let us “hack” their flyknit technology. Knitting was very important to my father’s career, because in 1957 he was the first designer to use stretchy jersey fabric to upholster furniture. Using stretchy fabric helped my father create organic and sculptural shapes with furniture, which was a totally new idea. It opened the door for a lot of new shapes in design. I think it’s been an inspiration for a lot of designers, from Verner Panton and Zaha Hadid to Marc Newson and Ron Arad.
This is why we are very interested in working with Nike; they’re all about innovation. Some people identify Pierre Paulin with luxury, but we would feel more comfortable being known for innovation. It’s hard because when you're producing such small quantities, production is very expensive. The intention of my father was to have a very democratic approach. His idea was to improve the lives of all people, not to make pieces for rich people.
We’re really happy with this collaboration with Nike and they don’t even ask us to talk about it. It’s really interesting because they work on a lot of projects, without even advertising them. They just like to be connected with what’s new, what’s interesting, and what's happening.
They seem to have a common interest in funding innovative projects just like Paulin, Paulin, Paulin.
Yeah, so for us it's a good match and hopefully we will be able to create a large experience of TSSX (named TSSX because it’s Tapis-Sièges with SoundX) together in 2024. Just in time for the Olympics in Paris.
When I was on the TSSX and you played the new Travis Scott album, it filled the whole room. The sound really felt like it was coming from within my body. You mentioned earlier that you’re trying to develop TSSX for mass markets, not only for the deaf community. It’s interesting because even though I don’t have any hearing issues, I was still able to receive an augmented experience.
Yes exactly, and if someone was in the room who happened to be deaf, they would have been able to be a part of our experience. They wouldn’t have had to feel alone.
Yeah, it really ties back into your father’s idea of being democratic and inclusive.
Exactly, exactly - bringing everyone together. Design is actually a very social intention.
You have a background in music, right?
Yes, I used to be in the music business from when I was 16 to 28 years old. I was really into it and we had a band that was relatively popular in France. Rap music was very important because it’s been my approach to culture. I didn't go to school, so in a way all the culture I learned is from the books I used to read in order to write lyrics and from the vinyls I used to collect to find samples. In this way, I actually think music was the best school for me.
Has this passion for music also inspired your current work?
I think the fact that we are deeply interested in music, fashion, and art has been part of the way we’re able to explain Pierre Paulin. When I met people like Frank (Ocean) and Travis (Scott), I was able to explain the intention of the designs in a way that created some sort of link.
Where do you see the future of the company?
Honestly, I don’t really know. I’m just trying to stay passionate, focused and interested. We often decide on a project because it's aligned to us and to the way my father would do things. We are trying to stay very nuclear, rather than being a big company.
I like that sometimes we can have a very successful year, and then sometimes a year with nothing. I love being able to say “this year we won’t sell anything”. It’s important because in those years we can really try new things and we can stay really free. We’re still an independent company, so we don’t rely on money coming from anyone else. I don’t know what will happen in years to come, but at the moment this is our current state of mind.
I’m sure we could make a lot of money from these projects, but money typically isn’t our intention. You need money to make things happen, but if money is the only intention then you’re quickly losing the point.
It seems like you have a similar thought process to a lot of other musicians and artists, where some years you may produce a lot and other years may stay quiet to develop your craft.
Exactly. You need time to process. When I was first in the music business I did a few records and was part of a band. When I left the band I signed to a major label and I made my first solo album. I realized that I was working to please the guys from the label and trying hard too to make music that would be on the radio. When the album was finished I actually didn’t like it. It’s a big problem because you can easily lose yourself in the money or in the intention of others.
The Paulin, Paulin, Paulin website is paulinpaulinpaulin.com. Their Instagram is @paulinpaulinpaulin. Supplementary photos courtesy of © Adrien Dirand.