The workshop
The Atelier Barrois brings together a multidisciplinary team of craftsmen, technicians and engineers. We carry out the creation, studies and production of demanding glass elements in the fields of architecture, design and arts.
Prospective, focusing on technical and conceptual innovation, our approach is deliberately contextual.
Collaboration
Collaborating with several partners, we draw on both the craft techniques of glasswork and the most recent industrial technologies.
Each project requires its own phase of research and experimentation before going into production. We serve the projects by applying the highest sculptural quality and creating meaning.
Creation
Over time, the Atelier Barrois has emerged as a research and development platform whose leitmotif is based on the principle of "hybrid vigour". This dynamic is fostered by the blending of ideas, technologies, cultures and contributors from a variety of backgrounds (engineers, artists, industrialists, researchers, architects).
In order to meet the needs of its partners while developing its own glass installations, the Atelier Barrois has become a crucible of invention.
Biography
Glass is for Emmanuel Barrois a way of life, a place of freedom, a vocation born from a chance encounter. While shooting an assignment on the preservation of heritage and artistic crafts, he met a glassmaker and discovered a fascination for light, colour and the art of physically defying the material. As a self-taught man, in the 90s he began to learn glass work by restoring stained glass panels from cathedrals and abbeys. His intention is not so much to rediscover the gestures of the past, but rather to feel how the glassmakers of the 13th century created the architecture of their time and invented their modernity.
The dialogue with the architect Claude Parent in 2000, followed by his collaboration with Paul Andreu, were decisive encounters that enabled him to precise his vocation and to understand the need, in his own words, to ‘constantly call into question, to establish the principle of discomfort as a rule’. In 2010, Emmanuel Barrois was appointed Master of Art Glassmaker of Architecture by the Minister of Culture and Communication. In 2013, he is promoted to the rank of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Exhibitions
Galerie Nationale des Gobelins - Le Mobilier National
Paris - France
"Métiers d'art, Signatures des territoires"
Tokyo Zokei University Museum
Japan
Designer’s Days
Paris - France
National Museum of Modern Art - Centre Pompidou
Paris - France
"New architectures"
Ecole Nationale de Beaux Arts de Paris
Lectures
Manufacture des Gobelins
Paris - France
Matter laid bare : Glass throughout the ages - Tuesday, 27 February 2024 at 5:00 PM
Roundtable with :
- Emilie Winckel, Conservator-restorer, specialised in archeological glass
- Katie Cotellon, Director of Design and User Experience at Saint Gobain Recherche
- Emmanuel Barrois, Glassmaker, founder of Atelier Barrois
Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD)
Paris - France
Conversation with Emmanuel Barrois, master glassmaker at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris Thursday, September 21, 2023, at 6:30 PM
with Jean-Luc Olivié, chief curator of the glass department.
To watch Emmanuel Barrois' presentation, click here.
Sénat - Palais du Luxembourg
Paris - France
Conference organised by the Fédération des Industries du Verre and the Fédération du Cristal et du Verre, in collaboration with the Union pour la Science et la Technologie Verrières (USTV). This event introduces the Year of Glass in France around the theme "glass for a sustainable everyday living".
Watch Emmanuel Barrois's conference here (in French).
Galerie Nationale des Gobelins
Paris - France
Les rencontres des Gobelins
Hybridization of materials: attempting the impossible
Thinking about glass today, the art of mixtures. (In french)
National Museum of Tokyo
Japan
Craft and innovation: experience in the field of architecture.
Conference with Emmanuel Barrois, Toyo Ito and Junji Ito.
Galerie Nationale des Gobelins
Paris - France
Les rencontres des Gobelins
Glass in architecture yesterday and today
Glass architecture: an age-old technique for the use of light. (In french)
Institut National des Métiers d'art - INMA
Paris - France
International studies days "Les métiers d'art à mots découverts"
L'élan créateur, le geste et la matière : que signifie l'acte de faire ?
And also :
- Tokyo Zokei University Museum - Japan
- Nikken Seikke Tokyo - Japan
- Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts - China
- National Superior Schools of Architecture of Montpellier (ENSAM), Clermont Ferrand (ENSACF), Marne la Vallée (ENSA Paris-Est).
Press
2022
exé magazine
Verre de lance
Article
2020
2019
Glass tiles of the Samaritaine - Paris
A focus on the making of the new glass tiles made by Atelier Barrois for the Samaritaine in Paris
Production ©Elqui Films
Vidéo
2014
2013
Archistorm
Emmanuel Barrois, verrier maître d’art
Article
Shotenkenchiku
Explorer de nouvelles possibilités pour le verre
Article
2012
M Le magazine du Monde
M Le magazine du Monde
Rencontre avec Emmanuel Barrois, verrier – Mélina Gazsi
Article
Intramuros
Les ressources créatives du verre – Liliana Albertazzi
Article