ECIA meeting in Paris

The ECIA board met in Paris on January 17-19. This was a great opportunity for the board members to discuss updates, ideas and projects. It was a pleasure to see the past ECIA president Anja Dirks (Netherlands) joining the meeting and sharing her expertise with the board.

The board discussed the work of the council’s working groups and focused on short and long terms projects.

The occasion also provided a great opportunity for the ECIA to meet with the French Organization of Interior Architects (CFAI) and to talk about the current situation in the field of interior design in France. Thierry Conquet, the delegate of our French institutional member CFAI introduced the board to Jean-Francois Gagogne, Olivier Farbert (Paris), Bruno Verwaerde (Lille) and Marion Bochirol (Lyon), representatives of Pôle Action. It was an interesting meeting in which a lot of information was exchanged.

CFAI is the main organisation representing the interior architects / designers in France, so far. It delivers labels, certificates to schools and professionals.

Pôle Action is an initiative of interior architects CFAI to form a new French national professional organisation that brings together all interior architects motivated by collective and concrete action. It aims to build a real network of exchanges, cooperation and solidarity between the most experienced and young interior architects / designers. It started regional but is in fact now becoming national and is aiming on three main area’s:

- Share information, best practices, etc. to maintain good level;

- Communication and promotion;

- Thinking, prospective, reflection on the work, exchange.

Photo: the ECIA board members and the representatives of the CFAI and Pole Action