François Bauchet (1948) began his career as a visual artist. This probably gave rise to his taste for solid and heavy forms. His first chair called ‘This is also a chair’ 1982 is for this reason a manifesto. Cabinet Bouleau, 1988, from a certain point of view, is that of form, a continuation of this work on mass. Here François Bauchet abandons colour for the first time in his career to focus, with the same formal radicality, on a unique and simple material, birch plywood. Without colour the material and strength of design set the tone. Cabinet Bouleau is a fully functional piece of furniture with two shelves but has a power that befits an African-style piece by the mythical designer Pierre Legrain (1889-1929) in the 1920s.