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Blog / Inspiration / An interview with matali crasset Living twice design A project for Actiu
An interview with matali crasset Living twice design A project for Actiu

An interview with matali crasset Living twice design A project for Actiu

SEPTEMBER 2026
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5 minutes
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matali crasset is one of the most unique and committed voices in contemporary design.

Her practice is research-led, transversal and deliberately anti-formalist: she pursues expanded functions and new typologies connected with modularity and hospitality, rather than pure form. 

matali focuses its collaborations on Entreprises du Patrimonie Vivant EPV centred on their own production facilities—from La Rochère to Roger Pradier—, and develops architectural designs for Atelier Tuffery and Missègle.

Matali Crasset by Julien Jouanjus
Matali Crasset by Julien Jouanjus

Her work ranges from the set design for a ballet at the Bordeaux Opera to an exhibition at the UCCA in China, titled “Raw Modernism: Accolay Clay Today.” or flexible spaces such as the Mumo Museum.

Her work is included in numerous public collections, from the Centre Pompidou to MoMA New York.

She embodies a critical, social and ecological design that questions everyday codes to invent more generous and connected ways of living.

Her profound commitment is determined by a radical research on extreme sustainability, a new human being pulse and path. 

A space for relaxation designed by Matali Crasset
A space for relaxation designed by Matali Crasset

A DRIVEN FORCE FOR NEW WAYS TO LIVE CONNECTED

1. What does the project LIVING TWICE for ACTIU mean to you?

The expression simply means leading an existence in such a way that it amounts to doubling it. “Living twice” is a space within the workplace or the domestic sphere, conceived to enrich lived experience, to leve connected a new and different path for everyday life.

2. This project seems to follow on from your previous research, an evolution of your commitment and narrative. In what way?

It is a logical continuation of my research, on the one hand, on expanding function to the scale of space, and on the other, on establishing new typologies that invoke the commons we need now as human beings. 

3. You speak of an augmented space, expanding borders, but without recourse to virtual tools. How would you define it?

It is about imagining an augmented space: a physical environment that is enriched, yet without recourse to virtual tools, remaining firmly anchored in reality. A hybrid environment, but one that is entirely real.

A space to meet and work informally, by Matali Crasset
A space for getting together to work in an informal setting, by Matali Crasset

BOOSTING COHABITATION AND CONVERSATION

4. Why does it resonate so well with ACTIU’s philosophy?

Because it responds to the brand’s pragmatism. Actiu builds, project after project, a genuinely committed journey towards people and the planet. It gives substance to essential projects, and therefore to enduring ones. The life of the company’s ecosystem and the loyalty of its users depend upon it.

5. What is its great practical advantage?

A single space that allows one to move very swiftly from one life scenario to another. It has the advantage of making it possible for two activities to cohabit within a more compact area, without requiring substantial alterations, since the device consists solely of furniture.

6. Where does the innovation developed with ACTIU lie?

A single space that allows one to move very swiftly from one life scenario to another. It has the advantage of making it possible for two activities to cohabit within a more compact area, without requiring substantial alterations, since the device consists solely of furniture.

A screen designed by Matali Crasset using Actiu products
A screen designed by Matali Crasset using Actiu products

ACTIVATING ADVANCED HUMAN INTERACTIONS

7. Could you tell us how this first iteration works?

A single space that allows one to move very swiftly from one life scenario to another. It has the advantage of making it possible for two activities to cohabit within a more compact area, without requiring substantial alterations, since the device consists solely of furniture.

8. What are you signalling with the project´s details and its conceptual evolution?

It is a signal inviting one to pause, to gather, to be together, to share. A coloured signal made up of concentric circles in different hues radiating outwards from the centre. The colour of these circles is coordinated with that of the surrounding furniture, thus creating a unity of place. A signal to single out the location whilst retaining a sense of serenity. A screen that keeps the space sufficiently open to remain part of life, and sufficiently closed to allow a different scenario on each side. It is composed of a double acoustic panel in recycled PET felt, which reduces noise disturbance. A human-scale screen, 2.50 metres high, which remains within reasonable proportions and departs from the codes of conventional partition elements thanks to its hemispherical shape.

Matali Crasset for Actiu at Paris Design Week 2026
Matali Crasset for Actiu at Paris Design Week 2026

PLANET CENTRED DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE

9. And what about the advanced vision of centrality in life?

Thanks to its shape, the space becomes a point of convergence, a meeting place. In urbanism, centrality denotes the capacity of a place, of a hub, to exert an attraction, a polarising power, and to offer services to a wider territory or network. Here, centrality is applied on a smaller scale, but the device anchors the life into which it is introduced. It is materialised by the convergence of the circle placed at the centre of the panel with that of the table opposite it.

10. New horizons for human life through design?

A sustainable future is not merely technological; it is behavioural. I strive to develop creative, meaningful projects that are based on local roots, repairable, and shared: compact spaces that enable different forms of life to coexist, foster the exchange of knowledge and heritage, and support a better way of living in connection with nature.

LIVING TWICE

Notes on the connections and intersections between matali crasset X ACTIU



  • Circularity: "Living Twice" has a close interrelation with concepts such as reuse, a second life, durability, repair, adaptability and products capable of growing, shrinking or evolving as needs change.
  • Wellbeing and neuroarchitecture: Time of senses, how colour, acoustics, light or the layout of a space can influence how we feel and behave: calm, stimulation, concentration, collaboration or connection with others.
  • Biophilia and nature: The commitment to implement research around greenery, textures, materials – those elements that remind us of the outdoors, nature, and make us feel that the space is alive.
  • Industry: The new role and responsibility of industry.  The capacity to bring ideas to life and scale them up, through research, knowledge, engineering and manufacturing, but also to decide how we impact the planet. Industry can be part of the problem or a very important part of the solution.