Pierre-Alexis Dumas – Artistic Director Hermès architecture to produce more energy than it consumes
Pierre-Alexis Dumas
Paris / Milano
we need to think about the horse
in conversation with Stefano Boeri
September 2020
On September 4, 2020, a redevelopment of an industrial brownfield site near the city centre of Normandy commences. Pierre Alexis Dumas, Artistic Director of Hermès, lays the first symbolic brick to the Maroquinerie de Louviers — the second site of Hermès in Normandy. The workshop designed by French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh will produce more energy than it consumes and follow the Maison’s core values of social and environmental sustainability: the building, will be made only of bricks and wood, and the trees uprooted in the construction site will be retained for the gardens, maintaining the biodiversity of the site. The day before laying the first brick, Mr. Dumas sits down with Stefano Boeri and presents a construction hat in the brand’s signature orange, discussing the responsibility of larger corporations to lead in the transition towards a mandatory sustainable consideration for the future.
Ann-Marie Voina The rise of consumerism, growing populations, climate change and now, the growing concern of public health. Could you please explain the updated moral obligations that you both have faced?
Pierre Alexis Dumas The world , as my cousin, Axel Dumas, who is the chairman of our family company says — stands for Versatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. I am lucky to serve a cultural company which happens to be a family company for almost 200 years. We have to put things into perspective, have faith in human beings and human intelligence. The real question is — areIt can be summed up into the pursuit of curiosity of the other. Through craft, we continue what we have learned, we educate, we improve: because we started making harnesses and saddles, so obviously we have evolved. But the spirit is the same and it is all based on two values: the respect of nature and human beings and altruism — curiosity for the Other. The Other for Hermès is everything apart from what we know. The challenge is not to face the obstacles, it is to understand who we are and where we come from and from there, stand true to our values. Facing the complexities of the world today, an economic model like Hermès is part of the solution more than the problem.
