Marc Trotereau

Marc Trotereau is not only a furniture designer, but also a maker of objects; interested in the notion of use, and in how a design or a situation can create a response. As well as creating projects for production, he has made one-off objects, limited edition pieces and site-specific artworks.

Marc Trotereau, Future Heritage 2017 Alumnus

As a walker and a passionate observer, he is attracted by the city environment. The public space gives him the opportunity to sharpen his curiosity and his capacity to notice details. For him, it is a unique place to create spontaneous concepts that interact directly with people, and to observe their reaction.

ShadeVolume By Marc Trotereau & Merel Karhof

At Future Heritage

For Future Heritage Marc Trotereau worked in collaboration with Merel Karhof creating an installation of their ‘ShadeVolume’ lighting collection, inspired by the classic lampshade. The duo developed a simple system to link lampshades together, in a variety of groupings. With few generic shapes, the system allows an endless combination of lamps, from a single product to a large-scale bespoke installation. By combining and de-forming the archetypal lampshade, the project explores a new language of lighting.

For Future Heritage they produced a forest of very tall, light Totems, in which the central and largest, rotated gently to hypnotic effect.

“Following on from our participation in Future Heritage, ShadeVolume was invited to exhibit an installation entitled 'Kelvin Series,’ showcased as part of 5vie design district, during Milan Design Week. We also had commissions originating from our display at Future Heritage.” - Marc Trotereau

Current work

Trotereau is undertaking research for his current project ‘Eco-shade,’ based on developing a new way of producing lampshades by 3D printing recyclable PLA, straight onto fabric, in order to reduce plastic waste. From one-off to large batch, the production of lampshades involves a significant amount of plastic waste that is neither reusable or recyclable Trotereau is developing a way to tackle the issue and reconsider the production process in an eco-friendly way by 3D printing the digital pattern straight onto the fabric, instead of using a CNC cutting machine. The main benefit is that 55% of the plastic can be saved and 45% replaced by a sustainable one (biodegradable Algae/PLA). The fabric is laminated with a thermo-adhesive backing and, while printing, the heated extruded plastic sticks to the fabric. His research was exhibited during Dutch Design Week 2019.

Marc Trotereau is also working on ‘Wireshade ’an interpretation of the making and the use of the lampshade. He has designed a jig which makes it possible to braze three metal rods together at the same time so that three-dimensional cubical shapes can be formed. This ductile way of creating structures, means he can produce bespoke lampshades for every type of wall, ceiling and corner. The lampshade becomes a sculptural and unique object, which can adapt its shape to any type of space.

He has recently finished a private commission of ‘Wireshade’ and a large commission of a ‘ShadeVolume’ Totem.

Wireshade By Marc Trotereau

If you would like to make an enquiry about Marc Trotereau and commissions, get in touch here or visit his websites www.marctrotereau.com