CONTREFORTS

Born in Marseille, Frédéric Bourdiec initially pursued a career in cabinetmaking before finally becoming an architect. In his early thirties, he discovered ceramics and began exploring the medium under the name Architectural Ceramics. Fascinated by the brutalist and functional architecture of his hometown (particularly the lines of Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse), as well as its light and shadows, he developed a personal style through lamps and objects made of chamotte stoneware that resemble micro-architectures.

In 2025, ARCHIK invited him to challenge our view of housing and urban spaces in a joint exhibition with architect Maxence Renard, entitled “Traces & Contemplation.”

For this second collaboration, as part of the “Ex Libris” collection, Frédéric Bourdiec has designed a pair of bookends entitled ‘Contreforts’ (Buttresses): volumes that explore the interplay of balance and counterweight, in his favorite material, chamotte stoneware, which this time takes on the appearance of “stone formwork.” The aesthetic is marked by a very strong sense of massiveness, reminiscent of Fernand Pouillon’s constructions in the Old Port of Marseille.