When Nothing Is Random

Floral Experiences by Tomas de Bruyne Events 

As seen through the eyes of EMC Teacher, Francisca Paz-Perez Aguirre after being part of the Tomas de Bruyne Team in the biggest private event in Pakistan

written by Francisca Paz Peres Aguirre

photos by Alex Mateiu

event by Tomas de Bruyne 

What do a Belgian, a Romanian, a Polish and a Chilean have in common in the mysterious and colourful lands of Pakistan?

If you think you are reading the beginning of a good joke, you're in for a surprise. The truth is that it was the scenario that I experienced last January when I was invited to work together with Tomas de Bruyne and his team in the amazing world of floral experiences at their highest level, events that merge everything fantastic you can imagine with flowers. Not only fascinating in terms of quantity, which by the way it is!, but also the innovative and exclusive design concept that each assembly presents. So, to the question at the beginning, what these people have in common with each other, broadly speaking, is the love for flowers!

However, contrary to what The Beatles claim in one of their most iconic songs, NOT all you need is love.

In other words, all of us who were lucky enough to be part of this exclusive event and work on its production love flowers, their beauty and the possibility they give us to express ourselves through them, but... is it enough? So, will it be possible even with all that passion and floral love to cross the borders of our countries and meet the expectations of any client, anywhere in the world, with the influence of their own culture, trends, experiences and personal tastes. …? Ok, I answer you without a doubt, certainly not! 

And still, how is it possible?

Anyone who works or has ever worked in major events knows that unforeseen events, those unforced errors, are always part of the process, which you can imagine are amplified when you are in a country (or continent) other than your own. Therefore, in order to adapt or find creative solutions to receiving 500 flowers of a different color than the one you ordered or realising that a structure has a different shape than the one you designed, you not only need to be very creative, but you also have to work within a design system or process that allows flexibility and openness to achieve the potential of each element, always within the client's expectations.

Colour as the most powerful tool to create visual impact

Its something that, I must admit, I have never seen applied in a more powerful way than in each of the three montages I had to work on! But in this case, and here I want to give you an example of what I mean by the use of this efficient system that I mentioned before and which, by the way, is one of the topics that EMC teaches in its program, it was meticulously thought out and calculated previously.

In Pakistan the celebration is color, a color that rejoices, that gives life and energy to the party. And it is from this point that the difference begins, because even with all its beauty and charm, it is not enough to make a simile with the magical “Rangwali Holi” and launch millions of colours into the air, but to ask ourselves what spaces, what specific places are we going to promote with tones and how we are going to combine them. How they will interact both with their environment and with each other? Different color palettes in each event, specific percentages of each tone and distribution systems for each element.

I am not yet able to read minds, but from the expressions on their faces I can tell that the people who have worked with could hardly believe us when we told them they had to count and classify hundreds and hundreds of flowers. Because it was not just a question of grouping the exact amount and colours, but of being sure that each step taken in the process was one more approach to the previously projected final panorama. But it was gratifying, at the same time, to see in those faces the surprise of what was resulting as we advanced.

Huge domes hanging from the ceiling, with color patterns that illuminate the object without losing focus on its shape. Because the strength of that element lay as much in its color as in its silhouette. While a majestic arch framed one of the stages, which sought to make the transit of the viewer's gaze slide smoothly along its shape. This is the reason why gradation as a color distribution mechanism was chosen. You could almost literally slide from one extreme to the other thanks to this gradation.

Nothing is random!

On the contrary, there is an effective and efficient design process from which, keeping your client's expectations as the north, you manage to combine the techniques, mechanics, elements and principles of floral design to achieve the desired result.

More than revealing the secret behind the magic show, because the feeling of awe is comparable when you enter one of Tomas de Bruyne's dazzling events, my idea is to tell you about this design process of such versatility that it will allow this magic to be recreated anywhere in the world, whatever its scale.

For me, this was one of the most eye-opening facts I learned working with this tremendous team, along with the unavoidable sad truth that my stomach is not cut out for the daily amount of spice in wonderful Pakistani food.