Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance

When I arrived in Lisbon in 2020, the place where I eventually chose to settle down, I walked through the remains of a burnt forest. Here and there, there were still a few residual fires, bloodless firefighters and charred animal corpses. The violence of those images is still scared in my mind today. It triggered something in me. Not only did I have to interpret what I had just seen, but I also decided to change my creative process. I had to think about what was around me and pre-existing: materials, artisans, nature…etc. With “Made in Situ”, I decided to lay the foundations for a creative process in which everything must be local, coherent, and sustainable.

Of course, like everyone else, I’m affected by the climate emergency. So I decided to use materials that were the direct result of these changes. I’ve already done this with the cork lifted from the oak trees that burned in the Var region in 2020. But I also wanted to highlight the talent and know-how that surrounded it. When I arrived in Portugal, I started with the azulejos, the ancestral hand-painted ceramics. It all started with the skills and encounters I had. In the artisan tradition, you don’t waste anything. We make the most out of the material. Out of cohesion, out of economic necessity. In this day and age, these values are taking on new meaning, whereas for a long time, we were only concerned with results.

Precisely. Joao Amaro is a master bronzemaker, initially specializing in boat propellers. And these are absolutely demanding. I immediately admired his work. I suggested that he combine his expertise with mine. And so, from my idea and his hands, these precious candlesticks were born. But standard candles were out of the question. Upon reflection, I remembered that wax is naturally produced by bees and I set out to meet Lisbon’s beekeepers. Among them, Joao Neto appeared to be the most demanding and the most respected of these insects which are so fundamental to the functioning of our world. To complete the idea, Joao invited me to meet Simao Sebastiao, who molds the wax for these candles with incredible care. This is the heart of “Made In Situ”.

I’m delighted to see that today’s new generation can’t imagine creating without taking climate issues into account. In my day, they were on the horizon, but let’s face it, they weren’t our priority. Today, upcycling, sourcing and the collective consciousness of wanting to improve the world around us are at the root of creation. I can’t imagine for a single second that the young artists who are going to present themselves to us don’t take this into account. And as much as I’m interested in the result, I’m also interested in the steps involved in creating it.

The villa is certainly the fruit of an aesthete couple’s desire for modernism. But it’s also the result – and we sometimes forget this – of a series of successive renovations. In this sense, it has evolved over the years, like my creative process.