Carla and Jordan first worked together during their studies in Paris. They moved to the Design Academy Eindhoven, and together they graduated in 2018. Their joint graduation project, Moca, was the starting point of the company. “We are quite strong-headed and strong opinions – we fight back with each other! We critique each other, and we bounce a lot – Jordan is more technical, and I am the driver, together we go on and bounce creativity," explains Carla.
Eindhoven connects with industries
After graduation, they stayed in the neighbourhood and moved to a still functioning, industrial area beyond the now gentrified Strijp-S. Has the city been welcoming to the graduates? "Definitely yes," says Carla, "the ratio of space and price is excellent, and we were looking for a place where we could connect to other designers, and this is a factor as well. We have a metal workshop – everything we need for wood and ceramics. Eindhoven is so well connected with industries that we are working with a network of local initiatives to reduce waste and re-use when we want to cut a piece of metal.”
Let’s go big
Aside from working with metal, the duo is known for its ceramics. "We've been doing ceramics for quite a while, and during COVID, of course, everything stopped. We said, ‘ok, is it time to think about what we want to do as designers and how do we want to work. And we wanted to scale up to become more furniture based. We said let's go big, and we wanted to make a connection.” The result is the Archetype collection. Carla and Jordan aim to sell the pieces from the collection, directly from their studio to the retail sector, primarily for in-store design, and also to private homes.
Designers becoming curators
The duo has also enlisted young designers and curated them according to Carla's and Jordan's interest in presenting a collection of work. “We’d never curated an exhibition before, but we thought it would have more impact to ask other designers to join us on this project for Dutch Design Week. It came naturally to collaborate with young talent/friends/graduates to create a strong setup with everybody being highly motivated." The result was ‘A blast from the Past’, a collective exhibition by Joachim-Morineau with the works of Adèle Vivet, Marina Mankarios, Victor Ledure and Rino Claessens. Each project has its relation to the Greco-Roman subject: in the design aesthetic/practice, their production process, or the concept development.
What stays behind
“We choose these collaborators based on the diversity of the work: the size of the chosen pieces, materials and colours were thought to enhance each other's," says Carla of the curatorial process that the studio went through to create the project. “The Romans left us their columns, architecture, temples, etc. So, when we were working on Archetypes, we wondered what would be left from our work after our generation or civilization has gone. Before producing the work, we questioned the temporality of each future object: it has to be made with long-lasting materials and easily fixed. In our production, some of our pieces re-use factory-made standardized metal profiles and sheets. We enhance the beauty of these industrial parts as we see value to the waste produced in the industrial process," Carla explains.
Bouncing creativity
Aside from curatorial projects, the mainstay of Joachim-Morineau is undoubtedly beautifully rendered and aesthetically pleasing product design. “In our work, we are to the physicality and tactility of the materials and products", explains Carla simply. The 'bouncing creativity' that Carla mentions in referring to their creative process has bounced its way to beauty.
