SHIRALY News

Resolutions, ugh!

This has never been my favourite part of the New Year celebrations. However in 2010, SHIRALY will keep bringing new sources of fantastic crafts for architects and interior designers to work with and find some inspiration. Check our new member: POUENAT Ferronier.

You should be delighted by the metal lighting fixtures and furniture they manufacture. We will also try to keep you informed about the projects our manufacturers participate in, such as cub-ar’s partnership with the J&B scotch whisky brand. We will also report about creative things happening in Paris. All those make up for stories that can boost inspiration! This will be available on the SHIRALY website. It has been re-designed, so you can easily contact the manufacturers, check their production and keep control of who sees your e-mail address.

Don’t be afraid to register, it is free and unregistering is easy and guarantied! The new website is a Beta and will be improved as time goes. Your comments are welcome. We wish you a Happy New Year.

Anne-Pierre de Peyronnet
SHIRALY founder

Can recycling really enlighten the merriest of moments?

During the holiday season and till the 15^th of January, the City of Lights organizes ‘Paris lights up Paris.’  The event is directed by designer Fabrice Peltier and funded by the Coca-Cola Enterprise.    The event’s purpose is to promote recycling during a time of particularly high production of wastes from packaging.  More particularly, Fabrice Peltier’s goal is to demonstrate how creative thinking can steer wastes away from the trash bin and back into the production line directly. Doing so, Peltier selected a packaging with a low 50% recycling rate: bottles made of pet. Rue de Richelieu and Place André Malraux were dressed up with Peltier’s creations, both located in the 1^st Arrondissement near the Louvre.  200 yards of Rue de Richelieu received 22 chandeliers hanging from 10 diagonal rods all composed of multicoloured plastic bottles. And on Place André Malraux, four 12 feet high Christmas trees were erected around the fountain.  The result is elegant at night time when all is lit up with Hotel du Louvre’s façade lit up in red as a backdrop.

SHIRALY’s thoughts:
The three partners’ recycling effort is welcome when political leaders in Copenhaguen just shied away from commitments they consider as being essential.  However, the location, the setup and the scale of the event seem totally unaligned with the event’s purpose.

Coca-Cola Enterprise should take a stronger stand at replacing pet bottles by something friendlier to the environment.  With the 80K€ budget it dedicated to the event according to Peltier’s website, Coca-Cola Enterprise could have certainly imagined a show both: more elegant during day time and aligned with the brand’s lifestyle ambition! 

Peltier’s position seems pragmatic and certainly stems from the fact that packaging will not evolve rapidly!  As a result, the man developed some interesting ideas.  His creations are displayed in his showroom the Designpack Gallery on rue de Richelieu, the other place selected for the event to be displayed at.

But do we really want to decorate our interiors with recycled plastic bottles, even though they look good when lit up?

It is not clear what the Paris city hall’s position is when it organises an event that does not seem to make a strong statement or is not destined to entertain.  Place André Malraux is pretty and elegant in itself.  It is off the beaten paths.  And because it is surrounded by heavy traffic, pedestrians are more likely to walk passed the event, and drivers in their cars will not even know what the event is about.  The office at Paris City hall would have been wiser to give the event a different dimension and be inspired by the Christmas trees on Broad Street, at the Rockefeller Centre or at  Bryant Park in New York City.

POUENAT and the new Hôtel Metropolitan

Radisson Blu recently opened a new hotel in Paris located within walking distance from the Trocadéro and close to the Champs Elysées.  The Metropolitan’s interiors display modern lines in a cosy environment. But more exclusively, the hotel bears a signature suite with an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.

To turn the 19^th century Haussmannian town house into a haven for business travellers and jetsetters, Radisson Blu appointed interior architect and designer François Champsaur. 

Champsaur’s imagination was largely taped into, and Le Figaro’s culinary critique François Simon, comments positively.  Simon appreciates particularly how the entire hotel offers a welcoming environment in which nothing is overbearing.

Champsaur’s level of attention to detail could only be paired by the suppliers he selected.  POUENAT Ferronier, a high-end metal workshop founded in 1880, was brought in to manufacture the architectural elements, furniture and lighting fixtures imagined by Champsaur.  The Mediterranean brasserie, the cocktail lounge, the spa, the rooms and the suites are all equipped by POUENAT.

cub-ar dresses up J&B for the new decade

In a move to simply celebrate, J&B the famous scotch brand, puts a strictly limited edition packaging on the market.   With only 7 pieces all numbered, J&B displays itself in a highly secured and visible position within some of the most luxurious Parisian retail stores: the Champs Elysées’ Drugstore Publicis, Lavinia next to the Opera, and the Bon Marché on the select Rive Gauche.  The result is a statuesque-like decorative packaging labelled NIGHT ROCK Deluxe.  

NIGHT ROCK Deluxe evokes a never ending party.  The precious Obsidian from Armenia was chosen for the packaging.  That same obsidian the Egyptians used on their statues.  Parisian based cub-ar manufactured the packaging, pulling together traditional hand-polishing techniques and cutting-edge water-jet cutting technology.

Cub-ar is the leader for obsidian made decorative accessories.  Cub-ar’s work with one of the hottest furniture designers should soon be seen in a private Parisian showroom.  Cub-ar works with architects and interior designers exclusively, proposing its catalogue of lighting fixtures and decorative mirrors.