Parisian sculptor and designer François Bauchet has consistently shown himself to be an innovator since his first collection in 1983. If innovation is commonly assigned to new kids on the block, then François should still be seen as a “new kid,” one who refuses to lose touch with his innate aptitude for discovery, imagination, invention.

An evolution of his Cellae collection (2013) for Galerie kreo—which explored the formal and structural potential of resin-soaked felt—François’s new Azo collection (also for kreo) employs a composite material of sand, resin, and concrete to render minimalist clean lines and sensuous biomorphic curves.

With Azo, François has invented a new material that is capable of achieving a lighter, more functional, and more elegant form than any of its component ingredients alone. The collection, to my eye, represents a more refined expression of last century’s organic modernism. Bravo to the seasoned new kid on the block.  He defines, as they say, “what becomes a legend most.” ◆