By Sebastiano Tonelli.
Eccentric, visionary, multifaceted, Philippe Starck was born in Paris on January 18, 1949, and is considered by many as the enfant terrible of design. Son of an aeronautical engineer, he studied at the École Nissim de Camondo in Paris and at only 19 years old, he founded his first company with which he created a line of inflatable furniture. His early works were unconventional and caught the attention of fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who entrusted him with the role of artistic director.
His consecration came in 1982 when he redesigned the private apartments in the Élysée Palace and designed the interiors of the nightclub La Main Bleue and the Café Costes, one of the oldest cafes in Paris. From that moment on, he asserted himself internationally and worked in every corner of the world for the most important companies such as Kartell, Alessi, Vitra, and Driade, becoming the first example of a designer-star through the mediatization of his own image.
Costes armchair, Driade, 1984. Specifically designed for the Costes café, its success lies in the absoluteness of its form: a wrapping shell in dark wood and three strongly inclined legs.
Considered the pioneer of “democratic design,” his philosophy is to produce objects in series to be sold at affordable prices in major retail outlets. He rejects purely aesthetic design or expressions of wealth and places at the core of each of his creations the desire to make products for everyone, non-elitist, and capable of improving the lives of those who purchase them.
“Design must be democratic, contribute to the evolution of the species. Because no one should be a genius, but everyone must do their part.”
La Marie Chair, Kartell, 1988. The first transparent chair molded in a single block of polycarbonate, whose molding process was designed to use less material while maintaining strength.
Louis Ghost Chair, Kartell, 2000. Sold in over a million pieces.
What characterizes him is an explosive style that blends sarcasm and irony, creativity and intelligence capable of surprising the user with shapes and colors that are always different but without being superficial, based instead on the pursuit of functionality and longevity of products that must be “useful” before being beautiful..
Juicy Salif Juicer, Alessi, 1990. Symbol of 1990s design culture and the designer’s most well-known project, it is an iconic object, now recognized as a work of art.
Left, Guns collection, Flos, 2005. Right,Romeo Moon lamp, Flos, 1996.
guns lamps and romeo lamp Product design is certainly one of the main focuses, but his name is also associated with hotel design, which he began to engage with in the second half of the 1980s. A pioneer in this sector as well, he opposes the impersonal and overly generic standards of many hospitality spaces by proposing hyper-personalized solutions, designed in every detail to astonish the guest.
The Brach Hotel, Paris.
La Rèserv Eden, Zurich ph. Gregorie Gardette.
In the 1990s, he ventured into the world of technological products and designed every existing means of transportation: the retro lines of the Aprilia Moto, the futuristic shapes of the gigantic sailing yacht Sailing Yacht A, and the interiors of the first commercial space station Axiom in 2019.
Sailing Yacht A, 2015.
Axiom Space Station, 2019.
Recently, his natural predisposition to understand contemporary changes, the determination to make the world a better place, and an interest in environmental issues have led him to develop a new concept: democratic ecology. Living in a world attentive to ecology without wasting energy should be obvious, as well as producing furniture with recycled and recyclable materials, reducing production processes, and utilizing artificial intelligence.
A.I Chair, Kartell. The first chair entirely made using artificial intelligence thanks to software, with the goal of creating a plastic chair using as little material as possible.
His career is extremely prolific; it is estimated that in his first four decades of work, he has dedicated himself to over ten thousand projects, earning him numerous awards such as the Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle, the Honor Award of the American Institute of Architects, the iF Design Award, Red Dot Design Award, Good Design Award, and Compasso d’Oro.
Masters Chairs, Kartell, 2007. Three symbol-chairs – “Serie 7” by Arne Jacobsen, “Tulip Armchair” by Eero Saarinen, and “Eiffel Chair” by Charles Eames – interweave their unmistakable silhouettes into a sinuous hybrid, giving life to an original and captivating fusion of styles.
On the cover, a portrait of Philippe Starck.
