Frame - 17 February 2018

Artist, architect and

designer EMMANUELLE

MOUREAUX makes

colour her only material.

Words

JANE SZITA

Portrait

TADA (YUKAI)

Chroma

Queen

A VISIT TO TOKYO in the 1990s changed
Emmanuelle Moureaux’s life forever. Falling
in love with the city and its colourscapes, she
decided to move there after completing her
architecture studies in France. Her dream was
to open her own design office in Tokyo, even
though the need to learn the language and
obtain Japanese qualifications meant starting
from scratch. In 2003 she finally opened
her studio, from which she has worked on a
wide range of projects – including a bank,
an entire train line in Taiwan and numerous
art installations – ever since. United by their
use of colour as a main spatial principle, an
approach she calls shikiri, her creations use as
many as 1,000 different hues, each of which
is custom made. Moureaux teaches at Tohoku
University of Art and Design.

When did your obsession with colour begin?
EMMANUELLE MOUREAUX: When I saw
Tokyo for the first time. As a student back
home in France, I’d never really been aware of
colour, and as soon as I got off the train, I saw
it with fresh eyes. There’s just so much colour

here. It’s also the way it manifests itself as lay-

ers floating in space. That effect is created by

the combination of neon signage, overhead

cables and different building heights – and

it’s unique to Tokyo. When I realized how

little colour actually features in Japanese

design and architecture, which is mostly

monochrome, I decided I wanted to establish

my own studio to explore it.

What’s the appeal of colour for you? The

emotions it generates. It makes the heart sing;

it fills you with energy. Through my work I

want people to feel what I felt on my first

visit to Tokyo.

What was your first project? A small interior

for a cosmetics company. I got the commis-

sion through one of my students – I’d been

teaching French while learning Japanese.

I didn’t want to work in anyone else’s design

studio. I just wanted to work for myself. That

interior was a tiny space, but I used lots of

colour. When it was completed, the client

said she felt purified by colour. That’s when

I knew I was on the right track and wanted

to continue.

How did you develop your concept of

shikiri? I was inspired by Tokyo and by the

way that colour defines depth in the city-

scape. The term shikiri basically refers to

the traditional Japanese screen. I adapted

the characters so that it means ‘divide with

colours’ – that’s what I base all my projects

on. I use colour in a three-dimensional way,

not as a finishing touch.

Art, architecture, design – you work in all

three. Is there a difference in the way you

approach them? No, it’s all the same to me.

I don’t see architecture, design and art as

different disciplines. Instead, I see my work

as travelling between different scales. The

process is always identical.

Can you describe it? I start with the concept.

At the beginning, I decide how many colours

I’m going to use – not precisely but roughly,

say 20 or 100. Then I work on the name »

62 PORTRAITS