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They are brothers and are originally from Quimper in Brittany. Ronan studied at École supérieure des Arts décoratifs in Paris and Erwan at École nationale supérieure des Arts in Cergy. The studio has been largely focused on designing furniture, lighting and some smaller table-top products, but it has also moved into fields of technology, architecture and public art works. The brothers work separately and often manage individual projects within the studio even if both feed in with ideas and designs for all projects. One clear area of investigation for the studio is flexible working and living space, with designs that respond to rapidly changing living and working patterns in the early 21st century. As a result of this interest, they have designed furniture that creates rooms within rooms, and flexible structures that can be changed and reconfigured depending on circumstance. \r\n\r\nTheir work has been the subject of several exhibitions such as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec  at the Design Museum, London (2002) and a show of the same title at the Museum of  Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2004); Bivouac at the Centre Pompidou Metz (2011); Album  at the Vitra Design Museum (2012); Momentané at and Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris  (2013); 17 Screens at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2015). Recent explorations into public furniture and design for public spaces was presented as Reveries Urbaines in Rennes in 2016 and later led to the public commission of five fountains for the Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées in 2019. The studio presented Textile Field in collaboration with Kvadrat in the Raphael Gallery at the V&A during the London Design Festival 2011.\r\n\r\nSamsung is a South Korean electronics manufacturer that was originally founded in 1938 as a grocery store. Its founder Lee Byung-Chull moved into many different business sectors over the next thirty years such as textile manufacturing and petrochemicals. Samsung first entered into electronics in the late 1960s when they produced and launched a black and white television in 1969. Since 2006 Samsung has been the best-selling television manufacturer globally. The company’s success in electronics is largely down to the fact that they have invested heavily in two research and development institutes and also set up Samsung Data Systems in 1985 to focus on system’s development. This has been hugely beneficial in taking the company into new sectors related to information technology and telecommunication as well as aerospace. \r\n\r\nThe Serif television that Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec designed for Samsung is one of the studio’s rare technology projects, as they are better known for their furniture and interiors. The design incorporates both the hardware and the software, as the studio also designed the television interface. It was designed over a period of two years, from 2013 to 2015, and is an attempt to move the typology of the television away from the flat screens that have dominated the market since Panasonic introduced plasma screens in 1997. \r\n\n‘What we were looking for was a solid presence that would sit naturally in various environments, just like an object or a piece of furniture,’ said Erwan Bouroullec of the project. Instead of attempting to make the television disappear it has been designed to create an intervention into the interior. The television has a broader base and top, while the body is slimmer, causing the profile of the television to look like a capital letter I in a serif font (hence the title). This broad base makes it sturdy and easy to place anywhere, while its broad top functions as a shelf or ledge for things. The television also has four anodised metal legs that can be attached to the body, making it a freestanding structure reminiscent of televisions from the early 20th century. The back of the television is covered in an upholstered panel to create a decorative surface, meaning that there is no clear front and back to the television. When the television is not in use its screen runs through a number of specially designed pre-set screen savers to avoid the feeling of the television being a black void in the room. \r\n\r\nThe Serif television is an unexpected step against the grain in regard to television design and manufacture of the early 2000s. Rather than following the trajectory of ever-thinner screens, it adds bulk, while still creating a highly functional and even multi-purpose product. It speaks of Samsung’s innovation and leadership in the electronics market and of South Korea as a strong player in this field in the early 21st century. Furthermore, it reflects the work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and their preoccupation with designs for flexible structures suitable for open-plan environments. It also continues a tradition from the early 20th century when electronics brands invited designers and architects to design radios in televisions.  The V&A has a number of these examples in its collection, especially by British manufacturers, such as the EKCO AC74 radio designed by Serge Chermayeff in the 1930s (CIRC.12-1977), the EKCO A22 radio by Wells Coates in the 1940s (CIRC.13-1977), or the  Pye model CS17 television by Robin Day in the 1950s (CIRC.231&A-1963).","physicalDescription":"The television has a broader base and top, while the body is slimmer, causing the profile  of the television to look like a capital letter I in a serif font (hence the title). This broad  base makes it sturdy and easy to place anywhere, while its broad top functions as a shelf  or ledge for things. The television also has four ionised metal legs that can be attached  to the body, making it a freestanding structure reminiscent of televisions from the early 20th century. \r\n\r\nThe back of the television is covered in an upholstered panel to create a decorative surface, meaning that there is no clear front and back to the television. The fabric used for the panel was specially developed and produced for the project by Samsung, who also created a custom remote control for the Serif. When the television is not in use its screen runs through a number of specially designed pre-set  screen savers to avoid the feeling of the television being a black void in the room.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Erwan Bouroullec","id":"AUTH362108"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Ronan Bouroullec","id":"AUTH362109"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Samsung","id":"AUTH378596"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"x33306"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"},{"text":"fabric","id":"THES345037"},{"text":"electronic components","id":"THES274431"},{"text":"plastic","id":"AAT14570"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plastic, screen, ionised metal legs","categories":[{"text":"Electrical appliances","id":"THES49024"},{"text":"Television","id":"THES269530"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Household 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