Designer profiles, design news, iconic furniture & more.
Bright colours, unexpected forms and modest yet unapologetically displayed materials: Memphis, founded in Milan in 1981 under the leadership of Ettore Sottsass, radically transformed international design. Short-lived but highly influential, the movement opened the way to a new idea of furniture: expressive, ironic and free. A look back at this …
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In post-war France, Steiner played a key role in democratising modern design. Founded in 1926, the Paris-based company accompanied changing lifestyles with furniture that was innovative, accessible and elegant. From Art Deco club armchairs to the futuristic sofas of the 1970s, Steiner remained at the forefront of design for several …
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The history of design is full of surprising encounters between power and creativity. The story linking Christophe Pillet to the President of the French Republic is a striking example. In 2000, the Atelier de Recherche et de Création at the Mobilier National commissioned the designer to create a new armchair …
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Bent tubular metal, leather or fabric, clean lines: this iconic chair looks so modern that it is hard to believe its age, as the Wassily is now a hundred years old! By taking industrial materials and using them in an entirely new way, the young Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) helped invent 20th-century …
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Born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Cees Braakman began his career as a designer at a very young age, joining the furniture company Pastoe, where his father worked as a draughtsman. He became the company’s director in 1948.
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Scandinavian design, recognizable by its clean lines and refined forms, has remained relevant across the decades. Born in the Nordic countries, it is based on a clear philosophy: “Making beauty accessible, without ever separating aesthetics from function.” This connection between nature, utility and human harmony lies at the heart of the style.
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Poul Kjærholm (1929–1980) began his career working with wood before enrolling at the prestigious Kunsthåndværkerskole in 1949. It was for his graduation project at this Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts that the young designer created the Element chair, also known as the PK25. “It is not only the structural …
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Born in Paris in 1929, Roger Tallon embodied the very essence of design: a combination of intelligence, sensitivity and creative generosity. His remarkable career has been celebrated through several major retrospectives, including “Roger Tallon, Design in Motion” at the Centre Pompidou in 1993, followed by an exhibition at the Musée des …
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In 2016, the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo paid tribute to Norwegian designer Terje Ekstrøm, who died in 2013, with a major retrospective. For the first time, the exhibition traced the full scope of his creative approach, defined by boundless enthusiasm and a constant pursuit of originality. Alongside Svein …
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Jean-Pierre Laporte began his career in the design world at Thonet, working alongside Pierre Paulin, who was then designing for the company. Nearly half a century later, after a long break, he has returned to creation and shares with us the foundations of his work, at the crossroads of ergonomics …
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