(6) Artisan of the Month: Steven Leprizé

Episode 6 of our video-portraits series on the Foundation’s artisans leads us to ARCA cabinetworking inside Steven Leprizé’s studio.

As grandson of a carpenter wheelwright, Steven grew up in craftmanship and his connection to materials is visceral. After a DMA at the Ecole Boulle in cabinetworking, Steven Leprizé founds in 2009 the Atelier ARCA (which stands for “Atelier de Recherche et Création en Ameublement”, an atelier of research and creation in furnishing) in cabinetmaking and carpentry.

ARCA goes beyond the traditional field of cabinetmaking by imagining artisanal or industrial solutions for companies of many different sectors and is oriented toward experimentation in contemporary furniture. ARCA has invented “AirWood” or inflatable wood. The technic consists in affixing inlay on a flexible material, allowing to distort the wood through air injection. Another concept then followed, the “WooWood”, a storage system with elastic pockets covered in wood inlay, just as if it was textile. Steven also invented a concept of wood chequered by an accumulation of grids and set up a technic of thermosettable wood using heated plastic.

The Fondation Rémy Cointreau helps Steven Leprizé to acquire a planer, in replacement of the faulty one currently used at the Atelier.

Video by Philippe Lassale
For more information on the Fondation : www.fondationremycointreau.com