About Atelier DeBrab
A journey between research and making.
A place open to art and nature.
The journey
Philippe De Brabander
Cabinetmaker and PhD in computational mechanics
A graduate of ENS Paris-Saclay with a PhD in numerical methods applied to mechanics, Philippe De Brabander turned to cabinetmaking after completing his thesis in 2021. He founded his workshop to reconnect with materials and place making at the heart of his work.
Questions arising from woodworking gradually drew him back to research: covering a doubly curved surface, anticipating deformation, designing a toolpath. Starting from these practical challenges, he develops numerical methods and brings computational science into dialogue with craft expertise to support creation.
Atelier DeBrab now brings these two practices together. Computation becomes a creative tool; making becomes a way to question and test models.
Explore the researchThe vision
Inventing the future of bespoke furniture
Science and mathematics open up new possibilities for furniture design and making. By helping us understand materials, explore geometries and formalise expertise, they push the boundaries of what can be designed and made.
Atelier DeBrab develops an approach at the intersection of scientific research, digital tools and cabinetmaking. It is built around four complementary dimensions: mathematics and modelling, algorithms and software, processes and fabrication, and finally creation.
These four dimensions inform one another. Models allow new possibilities to be explored, algorithms turn this knowledge into practical methods, and testing them against materials leads to new processes. In turn, creation and experimentation raise new scientific questions.
Geoveneer illustrates this approach: geometry and mechanics are used to formalise craft expertise and make it possible to veneer complex surfaces.
Our ambition is to help invent the future of bespoke furniture: pieces whose distinctive forms draw on scientific knowledge, mastery of processes and creative freedom.
The workshop
A space for making, creation and research
The workshop occupies 200 m² in one of the barns at La Cheraille. It is dedicated to bespoke furniture and joinery, from working the timber to refining each piece.
It is also a space for creation and applied research. Prototypes, material trials and numerical models are developed in direct contact with making, in a constant exchange between computation, craft and materials.
Philippe works with Olaf on fabrication and refinement, and with Victor on the development of Geoveneer and discussions with architects, designers and partners. The workshop also regularly welcomes student interns.
The place
La Cheraille
Between Rambouillet forest
and the fields of the Beauce.
La Cheraille is a large former farm. Its buildings are now surrounded by gardens and flowers, grown both for the beauty of the place and for sale in Paris.
Close to Paris, artists from around the world live, stay or visit here. The farm is a place of life, encounters and exchange.
The workshop is housed in one of the farm’s barns.
