Atelier CRAFT: Transforming Design Through Making

Paris-based Atelier CRAFT, founded in 2016 and located in Saint-Ouen, operates at the intersection of architecture, design, and scenography, guided by the manifesto "Transform the design through making." The studio, led by an unnamed team, combines wood, industrial materials, and reused objects within a framework of reversible architecture, exploring human-material relationships and circularity. A key project, AMBACTOS (Tomorrow's Embassy Kitchen, 2025), places workers at the center of diplomatic representation, using reclaimed oak from a dismantled farm for a reception pavilion and a reinterpreted vase mold from Manufacture de Sèvres as a suspended light fixture. The studio's material sourcing strategy includes five options: renting, borrowing, buying second-hand, using their own stock, or buying new, always ensuring reversibility. For their Birkenstock project (September 2025), they used recycled cork, aluminum rulers, and MDF to make construction processes visible. In the Palanquin 1804-2024 project, they reanimated a 220-year-old desk, honoring its original craftsmanship while adding a new structure that allows it to return to its original state. The studio advocates for a reconciliation between mind and hand, urging architecture curricula to reintroduce craft-based learning and emphasizing process over outcome. The interview was conducted by Agustina Iñiguez for ArchDaily as part of the theme "The Architecture of Craft: Handmade Stories in the Digital Age."