INTERVIEW WITH NADJA SWAROVSKI
What are your thoughts on Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Chandelier for the Gabriel Staircase at the Palace of Versailles, which was developed and produced by Swarovski?
“Swarovski is proud and honoured to have provided its support and expertise to this amazing project. The Bouroullec brothers’ exquisite creation and its positioning in the Gabriel Staircase will, I think, make it an iconic feature of the Palace of Versailles. Swarovski has enjoyed a long relationship with the Palace of Versailles as part of its programme of cultural support, in particular assisting on restoration projects. We are delighted to move into a new stage in this relationship today with our commitment to the most innovative contemporary design.”
 
How did the collaboration between the Bouroullec brothers
and the Swarovski workshops come about?
“Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec approached us to assist them in the development of the Gabriel Chandelier. We said yes immediately, not least because we had already had the opportunity to collaborate with them in the past. Our engineers put their creative talent and research expertise at the Bouroullecs’ disposal, and made possible an artistic response to the brief which is a real technical feat in the way the light is inserted into the cut crystal. Fortunately, Swarovski shared with the Bouroullecs both a passion for detail and a vision of how to approach this project. Since the brief was for a permanent work, the challenge was to come up with a creative solution that was both contemporary and appropriate for this iconic space.”
This Gabriel Chandelier relies on a device of great technical complexity which is invisible to the naked eye.
Nadja Swarovski.
 
Interview with the member of Swarovski Executive Board.
Was this a challenge for Swarovski?
“For Swarovski, research in pursuit of constant innovation is a daily challenge. The project was particularly complex because it relies on technology specially created for this piece of lighting, where each micro detail plays a fundamental role. No detail could be neglected because it would be immediately visible, so the project required very close collaboration between our teams and the designers’ studio.
It was a totally new undertaking that required a lot of research and experimentation to achieve a result that was both technically and aesthetically successful. We all thought that it was achievable, but it was not obvious when we embarked upon the adventure.”
 
Swarovski and the Swarovski Foundation are increasing their support and partnerships with institutions as well as with artists and designers. How do you choose which projects to support?
“The Swarovski Foundation has three main pillars of activity – fostering creativity and culture, promoting wellbeing and human rights and conserving natural resources. These are areas of humanitarian support that are part of the company’s heritage, so it felt like a natural evolution to build on this by establishing the Foundation. The Trustees select projects where we think we can make a real, concrete difference. In the realm of creativity and culture, we support institutions in order to leave a rich cultural legacy for future generations whilst nurturing and supporting creative talent by funding projects which promote artistic inspiration in art, design, fashion, theatre and film. For example, earlier this year we stepped in to assist in the restoration of the statue of St George on top of the dome of the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. And within the basilica we also presented an extraordinary crystal artwork, ‘Perspectives’, by designer John Pawson as part of the Venice
Biennale.
This summer we also collaborated with Zaha Hadid on an installation celebrating the 20th anniversary of the completion of her first completed building, the Fire Station at Vitra Design Museum, Weilam- Rhein, in Germany. Swarovski is also one of the founding partners of the new Palais de Tokyo in Paris, which aims to bring new works by contemporary artists to a broader public. Swarovski’s commitment to culture is driven by the recognition that artists and designers embody the values the company has upheld from its beginnings – creativity, experimentation and innovation.”
 
Before their collaboration to create the Chandelier for the Gabriel
Staircase at the Palace of Versailles, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec had previously been invited by Nadja Swarovski to participate in the design innovation project ‘Swarovski Crystal Palace’.
In 2007 Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec created Caillou, a small, pebble-shaped block of cut crystal containing an invisible light source inserted into a chrome envelope, thus giving the illusion that it is empty. The Caillou emits a delicate light which is illuminated or extinguished by touch, and which is rechargeable, thanks to a hidden integrated battery allowing it to remain lit for ten hours. Caillou is a perfect marriage of simplicity and functionality, but it is also charged with magic and mystery because its radiance and power source remain hidden.
What started as a mission to reinvent the chandelier for the 21^st century quickly evolved into a fascinating journey of discovery, with designers and architects such as Karim Rashid, Ron Arad, Tom Dixon, Matali Crasset, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Ingo Maurer, Hussein Chalayan and Arik Levy all creating lighting pieces that pushed the boundaries of design and crystal use.