HIMACS: Sibertin Blanc

For their exhibition in the Granville Gallery in Paris, the designer Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc and the artist Côme Mosta-Heirt exchanged ideas and struck up a dialogue via each other's works of art. As a result Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc has created a collection in HIMACS for this event: a console, a mirror and a neon light. He has allowed the colours and materials to express themselves and the new generation of acrylic stone proved to be the ideal material for this project. For the designer of the JBSB studio, each object is defined as a "miniature piece of architecture", with a history of its own.

As a trained cabinetmaker, Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc enjoys working with the material, which is his primary source of inspiration. In close collaboration with the fabricator Design & Création, the designer has chosen HIMACS, a material that can be thermoformed like wood, ensuring that the end products are resistant and robust, despite the delicacy of their characteristics. Having already worked with wood, glass, obsidian, bronze and many other raw materials, the designer likes to stimulate the users' interest and curiosity by encouraging them to touch his creations. As a non-porous material, Solid Surface HIMACS is warm and pleasant to touch. He is very aware of the value of an item, and thus creates useful objects, using a timeless design, in this case with very strong geometric shapes and a perfect balance between warm and cold colours. He has once again shown that objects and furnishings created in HIMACS can be made in highly original shapes and in the trendiest of colour schemes.

The console

Borrowing from Japanese influences, the console is a minimalist assembly of five simple and clean-lined compartments, built in a timeless style and classically designed. Each part has different dimensions, and this brings movement and rhythm to the finished product. Thanks to the non-porous thermoformed Solid surface HIMACS, there are no visible joints, and the item is a harmonious whole, highly resistant to shocks and thoroughly durable. Any scratches can be easily removed by polishing the surface. The item also takes on an almost transparent aspect, thanks to its delicate panels, which are only 12 mm thick, and have been created using the delicacy available from the new generation of acrylic stone. Furthermore, HIMACS allows the use of different colours, in this case featuring red, green, grey, black and white compartments that feel soft and delicate to the touch. Colour represents one of the major themes of the items that have been created by the designer for this exhibition.

From Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc's perspective, this console should not be placed against a wall, but set up in a way that allows people to walk around it and discover the elements within it. "Each compartment provides a different space and should be used to display precious items, such as a casket or a picture", explains the designer, "and with its clean lines, it should in no event be overloaded".

The mirror and the neon light

Created using HIMACS in Alpine White, this mirror has been constructed in the form of three geometric shapes superimposed on each other, and surrounding the central mirror. The effect of dynamic movement that it generates can provide a sense of rhythm to the room that houses this original decorative item. Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc loves to work with different materials, and provides us in this case with a sublime marriage between the bright white acrylic stone and the mirror, forming an elegant contrast. As well as the warmth of touch offered by HIMACS, the designer was also attracted by this self-sufficient material that requires no finishing, nor any additional work, once the product has been completed.

The neon light reproduces the same shape as that of the mirror, but in this format the central mirror is absent. The designer uses HIMACS acrylic stone as a support for the blue, red and yellow neons. When they are lit, the three primary colours combine, as in the plastic arts, to form an intense black at the centre. Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc, in his creations, allows the materials and colours to express themselves: a challenge answered successfully in the case of this lighting product, in pop colours, that offers a retro ambiance, very 80s in style.

About the designer:

Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc (1957) received training as a cabinetmaker/inlayer (École Boule, 1980) and qualified with a diploma from the ENSCI in 1987. Since 1991 he has managed his own design studio (Studio JBSB) and has worked with some of the most prestigious luxury brands, such as Hermès, Christofle, Ligne Roset, Lampe Berger and many others. With his timeless creations and true to an Italian-style design culture, he has received numerous awards for his compositions, since 1985.

Jean-Baptiste Sibertin-Blanc is used to working with wood. Despite being very different from this noble material, HIMACS has been able to charm the designer. Having used it for these various creations, he intends to do so again for a new project to provide liturgical furniture for the Notre-Dame-au-cierge church in Épinal, where he will be combining the new generation acrylic stone with obsidian.