French designer Erwan Bouroullec has designed plenty of lighting over the years, but his latest collaboration with Floss leaves the final form in the hands of its owner. Available July 21st, Sorry is a new wall-mounted lighting system built around a crinkled Tyvek diffuser that turns each installation into a unique composition. Rather than prescribing a final form, Bouroullec designed the lamp to be shaped, reshaped and interpreted by the person who lives it.
“I see design as part of a whole,” says Bouroullec. “Designs must work with a given environment and somehow improve it.”
Photo courtesy of Flos
The work reflects Bouroullec’s long-standing interest in balancing precise geometry with the unpredictable properties of nature. A simple steel frame and magnetic fixing points provide the underlying structure, while the large Tyvek envelope takes on unique folds and contours depending on how it is arranged, ensuring no two installations are exactly alike.
“Maap incorporates flexible and combinatory construction principles that make it ready for architects to play with,” says Bouroullec. “(It’s about) delivering solutions instead of a given proposition, thinking about collaboration instead of singularity, play instead of execution.”
Photo by Santi Caleca. courtesy of Flos
The seemingly delicate shell of the lamp is made of Tyvek, a material Bouroullec chose after paper proved too fragile during development. Tear-resistant yet extremely lightweight, Tyvek can be reshaped repeatedly while maintaining its structure. Large magnetic “dots” fix the material to a steel frame, allowing it to be repositioned and reshaped over time, reinforcing the idea that the object remains open to interpretation rather than being fixed into a single composition.
Photo courtesy of Flos
Available in three sizes, with the largest spanning just over 10 feet wide, Maap transforms an entire wall into a softly glowing surface. Rather than emphasizing a single point of illumination, the oversized diffuser creates an atmospheric wash of light that Bouroullec likens to sunlight filtering through a window or glass wall, creating an atmospheric presence that feels both architectural and decorative.
Photo courtesy of Flos
Maap is available through Flos flagship stores, flos.com, Design Within Reach stores and dwr.com.
