Thomas Takada – Design Parade 2026 | Villa Noailles | Side Gallery

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THOMAS TAKADA - DESIGN PARADE 2026 | VILLA NOAILLES

THOMAS TAKADA


DESIGN PARADE 2026
VILLA NOAILLES
HYÈRES
25 JUN 2026 – 30 AUG 2026

Thomas Takada's presentation for Design Parade 2026 explores the ecology, symbolism, and materiality of the bramble (ronce), a plant that thrives at the margins of cultivated landscapes. Inspired by the spontaneous vegetation surrounding Paris's Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, the project investigates a species commonly regarded as invasive or undesirable, yet one that plays a fundamental ecological role as a pioneer plant capable of protecting biodiversity and regenerating damaged environments.

Rather than treating the bramble as a simple botanical subject, Takada approaches it as a conceptual framework through which to question humanity's relationship with nature. Burned, cast, woven, excavated, stamped, assembled and repaired, the plant is transformed through multiple artisanal processes that reveal both its fragility and resilience. Each object becomes an experiment in material translation, reflecting the tension between destruction and regeneration, permanence and transformation.

Developed specifically for Villa Noailles following his recognition at Design Parade 2025, the exhibition brings together furniture, textiles and spatial installations that combine traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design. Collaborations with renowned French ateliers—including Goossens, Atelier Mériguet Carrère and Nepalese weaving workshops—highlight Takada's interest in preserving exceptional craft knowledge while expanding its expressive possibilities through narrative and material research.


The exhibition includes two hand-crafted carpets, a sculptural bronze coffee table produced with Goossens and hand-painted by Atelier Mériguet Carrère, and two monumental folding screens that investigate the ecological role of the bramble within forest ecosystems. Together, these works reveal how craft processes can become tools for ecological storytelling, translating natural cycles into material form.

Among the highlights, the modular carpet Interdépendance explores growth and propagation through a composition of six rearrangeable woven elements, while Buisson Ardent records the direct imprint of burnt bramble leaves on reclaimed wool carpeting, allowing the image to slowly disappear through use. The coffee table Roncier transforms the rhizomatic structure of the plant into cast bronze, balancing visual hostility with remarkable technical refinement. The large folding screens, Écologie de la ronce, combine soil, charcoal, paint and organic matter to illustrate the hidden ecological intelligence of the bramble, revealing fossil-like forms through an archaeological process of scraping away layers of petrochemical paint.

Presented within the context of Design Parade 2026 at Villa Noailles, these works reflect Takada's ongoing investigation into the relationships between landscape, craft and material memory. Rather than separating design from ecology, the exhibition proposes objects that acknowledge complexity, celebrate interdependence and invite a more attentive, less anthropocentric understanding of the physical world.