Thibaut Malet, the artisan designer who is making his mark in tailor-made products in Montpellier

Thibaut Malet en plein travail de conception. sous le regard de son aïeul

Éléphants et paysages en bois

Maison sur roues, maquettes ou prototype sortent de son atelier de Figuerolles.

Thibaut Malet is a wood craftsman. It manufactures removable and clever objects and toys with a refined and playful design, and a finish. Meeting in his workshop in Figuerolles.

What is your background ?

My grandfather was a cabinetmaker, like my father, and my brother took over the business in Lozère. I grew up in the woods. I spent all my holidays in the workshop making little things, it’s something that’s in my blood. Crafting was a spare tire if my studies didn't work out. Space design is very computerized, a lot of 3D, I didn’t have this relationship with the material. To design objects you have to make prototypes and I had a lot of fun doing it myself. I showed my work, it was popular, people wanted to buy it. I started like this twelve years ago.

What species do you work with ?

I choose wood based on its density. I work a lot with beech which has an interesting density, without hollow veins like oak, to work in miniatures. I really like its light color for contemporary objects adapted to today’s interiors. I also use ash, sometimes oak, species that are still found in France. I used wenge, a black, striped African wood, hard as stone.

One day, I counted the dark circles and realized that he was very old. I found it terrible to import such wood from so far away to turn it into a cutting board, so I stopped.

What are your achievements ?

I made a model of the White Tree for a real estate agency at Le Millénaire. I have just spent two years building an all-wood tiny house of 14 m² and, at the moment, I am creating a trophy for the Folies architecturales de Montpellier. I am often asked for custom landscapes, between architectural models and sculptures. People send me photos of their house, I model it in 3D and move on to the design. I'm leaving soon for Scandinavia to work on creation, reflection and drawing. It’s a mecca for wood, design and especially figurines. I found a workshop in Stockholm to prototype the projects imagined during the trip (thibautmalet.com).

Correspondent Midi Libre 06 72 84 06 49 I subscribe to read more