Bloom Room is a name not so often mentioned, but it is much better known. In fact, it is the name of the design studio of Marc Ange, a designer born in Rome and grown up in Paris, who after a period spent designing luxury cars, has plunged into the world of luxury, designing products for many famous brands, such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, Moet et Chandon, Orient Express and others.
In 2017, inspired by his new home in California, Marc Ange presented his furniture collection at Fuorisalone as part of the Wallpaper Handmade exhibition, enjoying great success with Le Réfuge, the most ‘instagrammed’ installation of Milan Design Week 2017.
This year Marc Ange is back to Milan with a new and original version of Le Refuge and other unique furniture pieces, at Palazzo Cusani, at Brera Design District, April 8-14.
Let’s talk about the next Fuorisalone at Palazzo Cusani and your exhibition “An Extraordinary World”: what will most impress visitors?
It’ s not easy to answer this question, as the reactions are not predictable before staging the exhibition: we’ll see it set up!
What news are you introducing?
First of all, a new version of Le Réfuge: the first piece of my collection will be placed in a new context, quite different from the one in which it was presented the first time. Then there are a series of tables, inspired by another part of my dream universe…
So let’s talk about you and your work: it’ s been eleven years since Bloom Room was founded. How has the studio evolved and what has changed in recent years?
Time goes by very fast, it’s been years but to me it always seems to be in its early stages. When I started Bloom Room in Paris, I was focusing on the world I knew best at the time, the world of the car. Since then, the studio has evolved, we’ve added a new office in Los Angeles and today I’m lucky enough to also be involved in creating objects, spaces and furnishings. However, the original spirit of Bloom Room has remained unchanged: I wanted to create a team of talents around me, with complementary personalities and know-how, but with a common creative mode, free and open. And so it was. It is no coincidence that my first three collaborators, Antonin, Isidore and Emmanuell, are still with me.
How do you design in different industries?
Exploring new worlds is a source of inspiration for others. On the contrary, being too focused could be detrimental to creativity for me. Obviously, I rely on specialised experts for any field of activity. In addition, the constraints of each object or product are quickly learned, and the expertise built up during the car design period is a real treasure to draw on.
What kind of creativity makes you stand out?
I grew up in a family context where there was no ordinary life, and my world has been shaped by drawing on reality, dreams and the unconscious. Art, cinema, travel, literature, music, encounters, architecture or nature are continuous sources of inspiration to weave my web of emotions. That’s why my creative context is rather prone to emotion. I don’t think of myself as a designer of innovation, technique or usability, but as a designer of pleasure, dream and beauty.
Who are your masters from the past?
Caravaggio, Michelangelo Antonioni, Charles Baudelaire and David Lynch. I rarely get inspiration from designers.
What are you working on right now and which other projects do you have for the future?
At the moment I’m developing architecture and interior design projects in the United States and Morocco, both residential and in the hospitality sector. I’m also preparing new pieces for the furniture collection, as well as new products with big brands in the luxury industry. (Elena Marzorati)
Marc Ange, Palazzo Cusani, April 8-14, 2019
