Cloud-like canopy at Miami’s Paseo

Inspired by clouds and climbing plants like ivy, the Bouroullec brothers’, Ronan and Erwan designed a pergola along a street at the “Nuage, promenade”. The centrepiece was debuted at the Design Miami international design fair, which wrapped up recently in Florida, USA.

Like a shade canopy, the pergola is a large open arc structure that provides shade and shelter with seats installed on the pedestrian walkway in Miami’s Design District.

Permanent installation at Paseo Ponti at Miami Design District

The Bouroullec brothers sought to create the “Nuage, promenade” in the form of design language to connect with the city’s buildings and facades, complementary to the natural surrounding in which they existed.

Permanently installed on Miami’s Paseo Ponti, the pergola harmonises contemporary materials such as stainless steel with the inventive interplay of coloured glass modules mounted on steel columns to give the commercially designed structure complete firmness and sturdiness.

“The pergola uses a recurrent form previously seen in the work of the designers, since this contoured modular shape – the “Nuage” or cloud – has been used in a shelving system and vases (for Vitra),” according to the source.

Designing this type of pergola was an exciting challenge for the French most talented design duo Ronan And Erwan Bouroullec. This structure has a shape of a ‘honey-comb’ that was echoed throughout other refined crafts in which they had created. For example, the bookshelf designed for Cappeli in 2004 displayed similar aesthetic.

When the sun shines through the coloured glass, light emotion casts dappled patterns on the ground akin to the stained glass windows in cathedrals, illuminated by the sunlight and revealing the beauty of each colour above the shadows.

“The pergola is accompanied by plants and trees that traverse and attach to the structure, colonising the system. The structure will gain depth over time as vegetation grows and the pergola weathers.” On the concrete walkway, onlookers can take a seat under the shade and experience the cool contrasting touch to the stainless steel structure it brings.

This was a proud achievement of the Bouroullec brothers as they had also worked closely together for several major design brands, including Hay and Cappellini. Their works can be found in the London Design Museum and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.