Algue by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

We don’t know how it is with you, but with us there is always- but always – someone who does things effortlessly more successfully than us.

Whether its passing exams or negotiating an escalator: they turn up everywhere.
And so it came us no real surprise when checking our (smow)flickr account we discovered that the most viewed picture is not one of the many excellent photographic essays lovingly formed by the (smow)blog collective, but a quick snapshot taken by the (smow)boss while on a visit to Vitra HQ in Basel.

Algue by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra - Start small, think big

Not that we mind that much. For aside from its obvious artistic merits, what we particularly admire in the composition is the way it wonderfully depicts just what one can achieve with Algue by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Inspired by nature Algue allows you to create room divisions without blocking out light or otherwise interrupting the flow of the room: You simply define the space.

In many respects Algue represents one of the central facets of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s design philosophy; letting the user define what an object is and how to use it. They simply provide the raw materials.

Created from injection moulded plastic the individual Algue elements are held together by small pins. How you arrange them and how you form them is up to you.

Since its introduction by Vitra in 2004 Algue has been among the most popular smow products; a fact that makes it all the more distressing that since the start of 2010 Vitra no longer supply Algues in boxes of 50, but only in boxes of 6.

For Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec the point of the Algue concept is that the constant repetition of the same, small, form, builds up to create independent structures and forms.

And for that one needs at least 50 Algues. If not more.

Fortunately the (smow)warehouse is currently well stocked with 50er boxes, and so those already planning a spring re-design will be able to achieve their goal.

And hopefully by late summer Vitra will have realised the obvious error of their ways and will have re-introduced the Algue x 50.

Algue by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra - currently the most popular image at (smow)flickr