Paris: Design Now

THE MARAIS

First on the menu, the ephemeral showroom of Domeau & Pérès—saddler and leather craftsman Bruno Domeau and upholsterer/decorator Philippe Pérès-who teamed up to manufacture such whimsically successful designs as Matali Crasset’s When Jim Comes to Paris (a guestroom in a bedroll) and the remake of furniture from French filmmaker Jacques Tati’s ageless spoof of modernism, Mon Oncle. Behind what looks like a large black garage door lies a vast space filled with such custom pieces as Erwan Bouroullec’s egotistical sofa-size chair for one; Martin Szekely’s luxuriously minimal—and ultra-comfortable—Domo chair and ottoman in chocolate brown kid leather; Eric Jourdan’s all-weather natural pine Hamptons chair, originally commissioned by a New York golf club; and a special-order bicycle sheathed in yellow leather, just like the one Pharrell Williams takes his spins on. Through June 10. Cité Dupetit-Thouars, 3rd, 01.47.60.93.86. website

The modern sanded-cedar facade of fashion and home concept store entrepreneur Serge Bensimon’s Gallery S. Bensimon gives a clue to the limited-edition furnishings and contemporary art on show at this latest Paris address for avid design collectors. The luminous space, with Jura stone floors and cedar ceilings, sets off such striking pieces as Dutch designer Ruud van Oosterhout’s sophisticated Brut tables made of solid American hard maple; Studio Ilse’s Shaker style bench, in walnut with copper feet; iconic Danish designer Hans J. Wegner’s Wishbone chair; English glass artist Kate Hume’s vases for When Objects Work; and Bensimon’s own baby alpaca throws. 111 rue de Turenne, 3rd, 01.42.74.50.77.

For his new Manipulations collection of 22 limited-edition pieces, French artist/designer Hervé Van der Straeten has used unusual materials including obsidian, silvered leather, iridescent glass, brass tubes and rock crystal in unique geometric combinations. Shimmering blocks of iridescent glass support a console top of polished brass; a sideboard combines volcanic glass, bronze bars and a black marble top with a leather-lined interior. Brussels gallery owner Flore de Brantes will present some of Van der Straeten’s work at the TEFAF Maastricht art fair this month, and a selection will be on show at the Ralph Pucci Gallery in Los Angeles, Mar 24-June 30. 11 rue Ferdinand Duval, 4th, 01.42.78.99.99. website

PLACE DES VICTOIRES

The pasha of haute French decoration, Alberto Pinto, has decided to share the kind of custom designs he creates for his ultra-exclusive clientele with a wider audience by opening two new showrooms on the ground floor of his townhouse offices. His Rio collection of 20 stamped, limited-edition pieces is characterized by haute couture quality and attention to detail, along with technological innovation that includes an ingenious pull-out system permitting his round Copacabana table to extend from six to twelve place settings. The Queluz Cabinet, made of embossed brass, parchment, lacquer, leather and silvered mirrors, has red lacquered interiors; nesting side tables come in ivory, black or red lacquer; the Branca table lamp is made of alabaster and parchment, while others have rock crystal bases. 11 rue d’Aboukir, 2nd, 01.40.13.00.00. website

SAINT GERMAIN DES PRES

Galerie Kréo founder Didier Krzentowski is the visionary who pushed limited-edition design into a collectible realm on a par with photography and contemporary art. Along with a roster of blue-chip masters including Marc Newson and Martin Szekely, Kréo showcases such young discoveries as Dutch designer Wieki Somers whose poetic Frozen in Time furniture, lighting, and accessories were inspired by an early spring storm that encased buds and branches in ice. Frosted resin carafes and vases are twined with delicate iced blossoms, and her Frozen Cabinet resembles a giant pink ice cube. 31 rue Dauphine, 6th, 01.53.10.23.00. website

At Triode, Americans in Paris is the first Parisian gallery exhibit to feature US designers—a lineup including Harry Allen, Jason Miller, Mathilde Alessandra, John Pomp, Kleinreid, Ali Tayar and Paul Loebach. The show runs until the end of March, but gallery owner Jacques Barret—also the first to bring Danish legend Finn Juhl and Brazilian modernist Sergio Rodrigues to Paris—plans to keep a selection of the US pieces in stock. Triode also manufactures lighting designs by the gallery’s permanent stable of young French talents. 28 rue Jacob, 6th, 01.43.29.40.05. website

Art and design manufacturer Perimeter‘s tribute to Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win the Pritzker prize, will star six unique pieces in fiberglass. Three seating modules have integrated tables, and a storage console, a coffee table and a dining table swirl with the same baroque modernism that characterizes Hadid’s architecture. Mar 12-May 6. 47 rue Saint-André-des-Arts, 6th, 01.55.42.01.22. website

MAISON & OBJET

Despite the economic downturn, attendance at the January session of the bi-annual design and decoration trade fair was up by 13% over 2009. French manufacturer Ligne Roset always provides design excitement at the fair, and this round was no exception. Inga Sempé’s creative and comfortable Ruché sofa has a smock-quilted mattress slung over a beechwood frame. Peter Maly’s Ted sofa has armrests that can be slanted or removed to convert to a chaise longue or divan. Philippe Nigro’s clever TU table has a removable, changeable top. For sheer elegance, there’s the revival of two pieces by the great French designer Pierre Paulin, who died last June. Anneau, a high curved-back yellow leather chair and pillow was originally produced in 1954, and is in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Antigone, a table in low or dining versions, is descended from a spectacular 1980s geometric design—a complex assembly of solid wood bars in a central pedestal framework topped by a sheet of glass; Antigone is available in a black-stained version or in natural beech like the one in Paulin’s own Parisian dining room. website

M&O always provides a clever idea or two to discover. Budding French manufacturer Petite Friture offered the eye-catching, butterfly-light Vertigo pendant lamp by Constance Guisset, one of five emerging talents produced by the firm, who is tipped by design superstar Philippe Starck as one of France’s “designers of tomorrow”. 12 rue des Nonnains d’Hyères, 4th, 01.79.25.75.81. petitefriture.com. La Corbeille presented the irresistible La Lampe Branchée, or Plugged-In Lamp, by 5.5 Designers—a white textile lampshade on a steel tube whose base is a standard plug that fits directly into an electric socket panel. 5 Passage du Grand Cerf, 2nd, 01.53.40.78.77. website

CULINARY COUPS

Designer Matali Crasset and pastry chef Pierre Hermé have collaborated on a bakeware set for Alessi that includes a double whisk (one slips over another for heavy duty beating); a two-sided spatula (one rigid, one flexible); a stainless steel bowl with a silicone-sheathed bump for extra mixing dexterity; and a series of concentric circles that form a tray, to present the finished cake with a flourish. After the Pastapot, conceived in collaboration with designer Patrick Jouin, multi-starred chef Alain Ducasse has now teamed with designer Pierre Tachon to produce a new Cookpot. A fine white porcelain, individual-portion casserole dish in a fluid oval shape with spout-like wings at each end, the “pot with good taste”, says Ducasse, will be used in his restaurants worldwide, to cook and serve dishes created especially for each locale. The new utensil, which will eventually be available for sale, was launched at a gourmet lunch at Ducasse’s three-star flagship restaurant in Paris’s Hôtel Plaza Athénée, where guests also got a look at Jouin’s newly revised version of his own lighting for the dining room: the chandeliers swathed in metallic fabric have been replaced by huge cloud formations of crystal rain-10,000 dazzling crystal drops each. website

Originally published in the March 2010 issue of France Today.