A designer of objects and spaces, Patrick Jouin has been associated with Sanjit Manku since 2006. The Jouin Manku agency is responsible for Alain Ducasse's restaurants, notably at the Plaza Athénée, and the Van Cleef & Arpels boutiques. They are currently working on the redevelopment of the Gare Montparnasse. Patrick Jouin also works in the public space, and is currently designing the furniture for the 68 stations of the Grand Paris Express.
Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku
Teamwork, the foundation of the human being
Why do we work? That's the first question to ask. To earn our daily bread? It's not just that, because if it weren't for the money, we'd still be doing something (cf. those who don't 'work': they do social or domestic work...). Humans have an innate need to do, and to do with, to participate, to be together. We are gregarious animals, and as such, we fulfil ourselves through a common project. Working in a company must therefore take into account both the work of each individual and the collective that carries it out. We fulfil ourselves through what we do. This is the raison d'être of work. It's the immediate reaction to the Notre-Dame disaster: we get together to do something.
A return to human animality in the design of spaces
Once we've established this, it's easier to understand why isolation is such a scourge for human beings. There are two answers. The first is managerial, the second real estate.
In both cases, we have forgotten that we are first and foremost animals. Everything has been rationalised and standardised to the extreme. Work-related directives mean that everything looks the same. Office templates are based on a standard of six metres. Then a circulation area. Then a meeting room. And so on. The result: boredom and stress.
We need to break all that down. Recreate chaos, surprise, the unexpected, the impromptu. Creativity springs from informal, unplanned encounters, in the corridor, on the stairs, on the landing, in the lift. These flow areas are essential, and we need to design them accordingly, providing places for spontaneous encounters, adopting shapes that are closer to the body, less angular, softer.
Feeling safe
Our first reptilian reflex is to seek safety. This is a key instinct to take into account when designing spaces. We first feel unsafe when we don't know where to escape to. When you walk into a restaurant where all the tables are empty, where do you want to sit? Spontaneously, it will be with our backs to the wall, because we don't want to be attacked. At the same time, we also want to be seen, to be recognised.
Our first reptilian reflex is to seek safety. This is a key instinct to take into account when designing spaces.
As a designer, you have to navigate between all these contradictions and try to reconcile them. The worst office tables are often those in the centre, so we have to design accordingly: low positions (chairs, stools, armchairs) on the sides, because we feel safe; high furniture in the centre, because instinctively people want to be in a position to flee as quickly as possible.
This leads to other thoughts:
- We're going to work on heights: below 2 m 70, you start to feel ill, you start to suffocate;
- We're also going to try and bring in as much daylight as possible. Naturally, we want to move towards it, to be in contact with the elements, the sky... and to see what's going on around us.
If you want to keep open spaces, you have to design them accordingly. "The best open space we saw was at Frank Lloyd Wright for the Johnson Wag building (Wisconsin). It's the archetype of what the modern office should be: lots of soft, overhead light, high ceilings and pillars that punctuate the space to give a sense of direction.
The need for intimacy
As human beings, we also need privacy, small spaces where we can isolate ourselves, take refuge: the hut, the bed, under the table with a sheet, the car. It generates security and well-being. The place par excellence where Le Corbusier liked to recharge his batteries and work was a little wooden shack by the Mediterranean. My encounter with James P Keane, CEO of Steelcasefor example. His office is a third the size of ours. This allows him to have more intimate discussions and totally changes the relationship that develops with the person he's talking to. The need for space is relative, and in a very large space you can offer very small, confined spaces.
As human beings, we also need privacy, small spaces where we can isolate ourselves, take refuge: the hut, the bed, under the table with a sheet, the car.
Patrick Jouin, Designer, Agences Jouin Manku and Patrick Jouin iD
Even the best people can feel isolated. When I have total confidence in someone, I let them manage their project alone. But when you leave someone to work on their own, they feel isolated. It's perfectly human: you fulfil yourself in your work, but that work only exists if it's recognised by my colleagues and superiors. I exist through the eyes of others. You come to the office to fulfil yourself, and that fulfilment depends on being recognised by the team.
