VS: Monsieur Nouvel, you have designed a new chair for VS Vereinigte Spezialmöbelfabriken. How did you approach this commission? How does your design process work?

First of all, I was thrilled to get a commission from VS, because the Danish designer Verner Panton, with whom VS developed the successful Panton range of chairs, is one of my great role models. That's why the commission to develop a chair in the style of Verner Panton was a very special pleasure – but also a great challenge. Because this new chair had to appeal to everyone: children and adults, pupils and students, and it was to work for the office and home. 
This commission was so important for me because the chair had to be designed for a large group of customers and to last for a long time. This chair had to have a connection to the influences of the 1920s and 1930s. The influence of Verner Panton extended over 30 years. We want such a perspective as well.

VS: How does your perspective as an architect make itself felt in your work on a piece of school furniture?

Whether JUMPER is used as furniture in schools or elsewhere is not especially foremost in my thoughts. It is important for the chair to be vibrant and represent something specific, also and especially through the way it is manufactured. Because a piece of furniture always represents its time, and this chair therefore has to represent how we manufacture furniture in the 21st century. This chair is a moulded chair that – to use a sporting metaphor – can alternate between the standing leg and the kicking leg. In football or rugby it is important to trick your opponent by suddenly playing with the other foot, and the chair had to have this dynamic as well. That’s why it’s called JUMPER. 
But the name suits it very well for another reason, too, because in profile the chair looks like an insect that could move at any time. This mercurial aspect can also be found in the chair’s contours. This vibrancy also comes from the heart-shaped hole in the middle of the chair. Above all, for me it was important that this chair contained something natural and vibrant, in spite or because of the exacting requirements for its design.

VS: What particularly attracted you to the commission to create an object for schools, for children, the future generation?

I am the child of a teaching couple and also the father of a young daughter. I am therefore only too aware that children often perceive chairs as instruments of torture because they would much rather stand up and jump around. I remember my own school desks very well and the chairs that we played hide-and-seek or catch behind. So it was very clear to me that these chairs had to be sturdy to be able to resist the little tornadoes, aka children. Sturdiness therefore had to be a central criterion of the design. I wanted a piece of furniture that is stable and resistant without you being able to see that immediately. I didn’t want people to see immediately that this chair primarily has to be sturdy, but rather that it expresses itself through its colours and shape. The chair is also available in various sizes, in line with the ages of the children. And the colour palette was to be as fresh and vibrant as possible. The fact that the chair is also available in wood gives it a very new feeling. In addition, the chair has to be able to adapt to the various school types. I believe that a piece of furniture has to adapt to a situation, so our design has to react to all possible situations.