In the early 2000s, Edouard Bernard spotted an abandoned chair on a sidewalk on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. Captivated by its material—cardboard—and its cylindrical lines, the young design collector took the piece home.
A few months later, he came across similar pieces at an auction at Drouot : “That’s how I realized that my piece of furniture was the work of Jean-Louis Avril ,” he says.
Upon learning that Avril lived in the 13th arrondissement, Edouard Bernard went to meet him. “I was happy to discover the artist. He showed me his work and his archives. We became friends. The idea for a book about this story gradually took shape .” The book, co-authored with Anne Bony and Flavien Gaillard, has just been published.
Noces de carton
The designer, who passed away this year just a few days before the release of this biography, is a leading figure in the field of cardboard furniture in France. His inspiration stems from… his father-in-law!
Jean-Louis Avril married Michelle Marty in 1965; he discovered Mr. Marty’s business, which sold cardboard containers produced by the Pithiviers Sugar Company. Marty gave him a tour of the factory.
Very quickly, the young man repurposed a few cardboard boxes to design his first armchair. “The first prototype was developed in 1966,” says Edouard Bernard. “This model impressed his father-in-law, who encouraged him to file a patent, which was registered the following year.”&
About fifty pieces followed: armchairs, nightstands, chairs for children of various ages, stools, bookcases and storage units of varying heights, coffee tables, bar tables, chests, desks, coat racks, beds…
Mr. Marty founded the company Marty-LAC (cardboard applications). He opened a workshop that produced furniture and objects in Seine-et-Marne. Jean-Pierre Bourson, a technician, oversees the production of the designs, and the team expands as the brand gains success.
From shipping container to headquarters
The designer’s furniture is made from sheets of Celloderme, a dense and very hard cardboard manufactured from cellulose fibers in suspension that are highly compressed and then dried on mesh screens.
Made from recycled paper, cardboard, wood, and rags, this material can then be cut, folded, thermoformed… It is thus perfectly suited for designing accessories and furniture.
The creations of Jean-Louis Avril follow an industrial process similar to that used to form cans. Each piece is cut out and then shaped using a cold-rolling machine. The circular elements of the seats and tabletops, on the other hand, are moistened and hot-stamped to curve their edges.
The various parts are then fastened “with staples on the early models,” explains the specialist. “Then, very quickly, with a rivet system.” The scraps are used to reinforce certain edges of the furniture.
In Step with the Times
Although cardboard was rarely used in furniture production in the 1960s and 1970s, the works of Jean-Louis Avril fit seamlessly into the design trends of the time. Joe Colombo (for Bernini), Anna Castelli Ferrieri (for Kartell), and other pioneers had already explored cylindrical forms with pieces made of wood, metal, or plastic.
The minimalist and elegant forms blend easily into all types of interiors. Their playful look and moderate prices make them well-suited for occasional use or for furnishing a child’s room.
Avril is one of the few designers to offer models in different sizes to suit the ages of young users. “The countless color options (over a hundred lacquer finishes!) reflect the whimsical spirit of the times. You can find furniture in mustard yellow, pink, or green… ,” adds Édouard Bernard.&
A luxurious offering “that cost them a lot of money, since a particular shade might be used for just a single order and then discarded.”
As a fan of Brutalist architecture, Jean-Louis appreciates cardboard simply protected by a coat of varnish. Buyers finally have the opportunity to acquire a piece of furniture without a finish so they can personalize it. “Alas! I’ve never come across these pieces, except for a very cute desk that Jean-Louis painted for one of his granddaughters. I’d told him it was a shame to alter it. I had a collector’s perspective, but it didn’t bother him. ”
A Media-Covered Production
The designer dreams of offering a popular design, accessible to as many people as possible. However, production remains relatively artisanal, and prices therefore stay higher than he had imagined.
The designer’s works, however, benefit from the interior design press’s interest in this original material. Likewise, they are featured at many events. The furniture was exhibited at the Ideal Home Exhibition in London (1966), at the Hilton Papier in Paris, and at the Montreal World’s Fair (1967).
They were also featured at “Made with Paper” at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Craft in New York, at the Floralies, at the “Assises du Siège Contemporain” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and at the Milan Triennale (1968).
Interior architect Andrée Putman commissioned a custom interior design for a clothing store in Saint-Tropez (1967).
Some of the works were featured in theater and film productions: Jean-Pierre Melville’s *Le Samouraï* (1967) and Henri-Georges Clouzot’s *Prisonnière* (1968).
The designs are sold in a Parisian boutique and through a catalog. Puzzle, MOU, Les Loges de l’Odéon, and many other home decor stores in Paris, throughout France, and even in Great Britain also carry them.
With the economic crisis and the passing of Mr. Marty, who managed the entire commercial side of the business, production ceased in 1973.
A Life Dedicated to Teaching
Aside from this brief interlude, the designer “ultimately devoted most of his career to teaching,” explains Edouard Bernard. A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts and a DPLG-certified architect since 1964, he met Edouard Albert at the school.
The young man became his assistant and began teaching in the studio as early as 1967 (Avril would later move into the first Parisian skyscraper designed by Albert in the late 1950s !).
A “paper architect,” as he describes himself, he completed very few construction projects. Research, articles, and books: he was passionate about theoretical reflection and technique. He also occasionally returned to creating furniture, first out of wood and later out of sheet metal.
Jean-Louis Avril’s cardboard works are part of the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Musée de la Ville de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and other institutions abroad.
Cécile Ybert
The market
“Few pieces are available on the market,” notes Edouard Bernard. Very common models in perfect condition—such as a small nightstand—start at 500 euros. Rarer pieces, such as a beautiful chair or a lamp, are of greater interest to collectors. A prototype table or chair can exceed 5,000 euros. ”
Cécile Ybert