The autumn edition of Maison & Objet, which included more design events under the banner of Paris Design Week, certainly stirred the imagination as a design lover. We can’t get enough of these home design trends, from showroom installations to exhibitions to fairground displays.
The use of recycled or repurposed materials by designers has been around for years, but in Paris, makers and artists took humble materials to the next level. A custom chandelier made from vintage Murano glass pieces from Veronese archives was used to display Sandra Benhamou’s new sofa and cocktail table designs at Galerie Vauclair. This pair created a svelte tableau referencing 1970s louche styling and highlighting the relevance of the past.
On the other end of the spectrum, India Mahdavi’s satellite exhibition, Greetings from Greece, presented in collaboration with Athens-based Carwan Gallery, was revelatory in its mundaneness. A young designer, Savvas Laz, was recognized for his Trashformers series, which used recycled styrofoam from consumer electronics packaging to transform it into fiberglass and pop-y materials. In spite of their appearance, the mirrors and chairs are lightweight and powder-coated steel.
PATTERN BLOCKING OVER COLOR BLOCKING
As much as the imagination, Paris Design Week was dominated by pattern, with designers’ maximalist installations spurring both the senses and the emotions. An epic conflation of prints was displayed at Laura Gonzalez’s eponymous gallery (see image above), layering Schumacher fabrics in luxe expanses. A few blocks away, the fabric house’s new showroom was equally dizzying.
THE DESIGN WORLD IS GETTING ETHEREAL
This year’s Maison & Objet was a prelude to something much bigger. At Espace Commines, designers Sabourin Costes presented the first ever soft furniture collection.n infused with softness. beautiful resin and glass cocktail table alongside tubular stools and a tendril-y vase inspired by sea anemones.
Sabourin Costes’ Boudins cocktail table in glass and resin.
Sabourin Costes, courtesy of her.
In Nonfiction’s Language of Light cocktail table, Rahee Yoon’s ombré resin Block objects stood out for their ethereal, meditative quality because they were made of glass and resin. For the group show Whatever Has to Be Done, Theoreme Editions exhibited printed silk drapery by Justin Morin elegantly framing furnishings from emerging European designers.
CORNERS ARE OUT; CURVES ARE IN
Designer of the Year Cristina Celestino’s “Palais Exotique” restaurant concept for Mariage Frères included a blue velvet tête-à-tête as well as a sloped sofa by Bina Baitel. In keeping with the theme, the Invisible Collection presented the architect and designer Aline Asmar d’Amman’s debut furniture collection, which featured a “sensual” conversation salon upholstered in pink mohair, while Roula Salamoun’s Archipelago sofa was inspired by coastal erosion with its sculpted edges.
THE REAL WINNER IS SILVER
Alumin IS THE and stainless steel dominated the showrooms, from products like Thibault Huguet’s understated Lampe #1, available in customized heights, to Wendy Andreu’s compact Staple Console and Charlotte Juillard’s chrome ISO sconce. Boon Room showcased steel and stone works by Batten and Kamp alongside Tim Teven’s sculptural chrome Pressure vases (as seen in ELLE DECOR’s September issue) and Will Choui’s punishing mirror-polished stainless steel WCL lounge chair and aluminum Squarehead mirror. These are accents that provide an edge (for when your sofa has none.)