Arthur de la Roche

Arthur
de la Roche
   



Hi! I’m a product designer based in France. 
I’m curentely studying at Strate Design School !

Opened for any type of colaboration, feel free to contact me.


Vulnéraire



(2024) 6 weeks project for Paraboot

In late 2023, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Paraboot, one of the most renowned and historic French shoemaking companies.


The brand tasked my class at Strate École de Design with designing new products using only surplus leather from their manufacturing process. This project allowed us to explore sustainable design by repurposing leftover materials.


We visited their factory in Voirons near Grenoble at the bottom of the french Alps, where we learned about the brand’s heritage and the qualities of the materials. Paraboot provided us with leather offcuts, which we used to create our prototypes.

Pictures by Lucas Lorigeon

After visiting the Paraboot factory, I was inspired to create something that would reflect the brand's rich history, expertise, and craftsmanship. While researching further, I explored the broader context of the region and discovered another iconic company in the same area with a deep tradition of craftsmanship: Chartreuse.

Chartreuse is considered the oldest continuously produced liqueur, renowned worldwide for its secret recipe, which incorporates over 150 herbs and has been passed down through generations of Chartreux monks. 

I decided to design a leather cover for the Chartreuse bottle and began exploring the appropriate form. During my research, I came across the "vulnéraire des Chartreux," a flower native to the region and used in the production of Chartreuse. Recognizing its significance, I knew this would be the ideal shape for my leather bottle cover design.

Fire ‘n’ Form


(2024) 6 weeks Project, In partnership with Lucile Roure

For this project, our entire cohort was tasked with constructing the Seida chair by Enzo Mari in pairs, and then modifying the chair in any manner, exploring the concept of open design.

Lucile and I explored various ideas during our brainstorming sessions, but one concept resonated with us: burning the chair. Upon conducting further research into the practice of burning wooden furniture, we discovered the work of renowned designer Maarten Baas, specifically his Smoke project. Baas had used this technique exclusively on designer furniture, particularly chairs, but had never applied it to the Seida chair. We immediately recognized the potential of adapting this approach to our project.

Design, in our view, is not only about creating something entirely new but also about establishing connections between existing concepts and ideas.

To execute our vision, we decided to follow the same protocol as Maarten Baas in his Smoke series: burning the chair until it reaches carbonization, carefully dusting it, and then applying a thin layer of epoxy resin. This process preserves the carbonized surface, preventing dirt transfer when sitting on it, while also solidifying the structure. Through this method, we aimed to both honor and transform the iconic Seida chair, blending tradition with experimental techniques in open design.