Alexandre Ralston Bau

Norway (residence), France (citizenship) °1970
research interests: design, Design Thinking, design=art=research, modular architecture, materials
en

Alexandre Ralston Bau is the co-founder of Ralston Bau. He has a Master in Product & Furniture Design from the Art & Design School of Rennes in France (1996 MA Design / EESAB). Alexandre is inspired by human rituals and contexts to shape scenarios that come alive in spaces and objects. In 2001, he co-founded Ralston Bau studio in Paris, with an eye for the unexpected and the yet unexplored areas within the design field. Thus Transplant was built and opened in 2007, an 600 m2 experimental design centre located by a Norwegian fjord, where a successful five-year collaboration between art and design was formed. From 2009 to 2015, he co-curated the research through design programme Ideal Lab, where he invited 52 artists, designers, and sociologists to work in local contexts and create their own work within social thematics.

 

"Ralston Bau is an independent studio decoding the, on so many levels, complex world we move in, to understand and reflect on visible and invisible issues. Their transformative practice turns ideas into action, connect people to our common spaces and turn complex question into essential objects.

Ralston Bau is an idealist design studio established in Bergen, Norway and Marseille, France."

To Alexandre, it is essential to create regenerative and fair projects in his daily practice. His work takes form, such as narrative spaces to the personal object to urban lighting and furniture in public space. With the aim to pursue transversal design research, he co-founded the Idealist Institute together with likeminded partners in Norway, Sweden, France, and UK. Citizens and professionals meet with the ambition to shape ideal futures that are inclusive and sustainable, within their own fields and contexts in transformation.


He is associated artist of MAGASIN des Horizons – CNAC in Grenoble in the period 2017-2020. He has received several international recognitions, like the “Red Dot Product Design Award” in 2013 and his work has been acquired by several design and art museums. In 2010, Alexandre was honoured the community award "Fjalerprisen" for outstanding contributions to local culture and industry. He teaches at the University of Bergen KMD Institute for Design.

 

research

research expositions

  • Ideal Village (last edited: 2021) author(s): Alexandre Ralston Bau This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
    According to Professor Anderssen from Harvard Atmospheric Chemistry Department, humanity has a very small time frame (such as until 2021) to stop dramatically our use of oil based products and carbon emissions. If we do not, humanity extinction will start. In that perspective and to enhance a resilient and regionally built environment, Ideal Village is exploring through a practice research process the themes of self-build & modular architecture
, such as citizen driven building and spaces that adapt to the communities needs. The other research theme is the inclusive and permeable community crafting where ages, origins and social levels are diverse and complementary. The third theme, biopolymers based value chains within building and interior design fields, will also be explored, define and refined within new speculative scenarios.
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  • Bioregion Vestland (last edited: 2020) author(s): Alexandre Ralston Bau This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
    Bioregion Vestland is a design-driven development project under the auspices of Design Region Bergen. We want to develop a regional circular value chain that stimulates companies in Western Norway to green change through innovative production, services and products that, among other things, phase out fossil-based plastics. A "bioregion" is a geographically bounded area that takes into account human society and natural ecosystem; it is a call to act with renewed corporate social responsibility. The overall goal of the Bioregion Vestland project is to initiate several major projects that will make the business sector equipped for a sustainable future and create new green industry in Western Norway. How can we make the best use of resources in Western Norway and use these to create circular value chains that are both sustainable and profitable - and which can also create solutions that replace our plastic consumption?
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  • KMD MASS, Materials And Sustainable Systems (last edited: 2020) author(s): Alexandre Ralston Bau This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
    Materials and Sustainable Systems works as a collective to develop a large network of researchers, designers, and innovators who share our vision for a sustainable future. Our community is an extension of the Material Library at the University of Bergen, Faculty of Fine Art, Music, and Design. In addition to existing as a resource for practitioners in sustainability, our team has created a Podcast series that investigates one theme per semester. As a growing resource, we plan to provide the public with notable discoveries and technologies that address issues related to the current climate crisis.
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