Philippe Starck

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Philippe Starck
Born January 18, 1949 (1949-01-18) (age 59)
Paris, France
Occupation Designer

Philippe Patrick Starck (born January 18, 1949) is a well-known French designer and probably the best known designer in the New Design style. His designs range from spectacular interior designs to mass produced consumer goods such as toothbrushes, chairs, and even houses.

He was educated in Paris at École Nissim de Camondo and in 1968, he founded his first design firm, which specialized in inflatable objects. In 1969, he became art director of his firm along with Pierre Cardin.

Contents

[edit] Career

alarm clock Telefunken ca. 1995, Design Ph. Starck
alarm clock Telefunken ca. 1995, Design Ph. Starck

Starck's career started to climb in earnest in 1982 when he designed the interior for the private apartments of the French President François Mitterrand. Starck has worked independently as an interior designer and as a product designer since 1975. Most notably, in 2002, he created a number of relatively inexpensive product designs for the large American retailer Target Stores.[1]

His most recent notable designs include an optical mouse for Microsoft[2], yachts, and even new packaging for a beer company. He was commissioned to design the Virgin Galactic "spaceport" in New Mexico[3] (Foster and Partners are its architects[4].

He made the exihibt Democratic Ecology with Pramac. [5]

[edit] Design

Aprilia Moto 6.5 designed by Starck
Aprilia Moto 6.5 designed by Starck

Unlike most other New Design artists, Starck's work does not concentrate on the creation of provocative and expensive single pieces. Instead, his product designs are of usable household items which Starck himself helps to market for mass production. His products and furnishings are often stylized, streamlined and organic in their look and are also constructed using unusual combinations of materials (such as glass and stone, plastic and aluminum, plush fabric and chrome, etc.).

[edit] Products

Two of Starck's designs include stylized toothbrushes (1989) and a sleek juicer dubbed the Juicy Salif created for Alessi in 1990. The Juicy Salif, in fact, has since become an affordable and popular cult item.

[edit] Furnishings

Regarding Starck's furniture designs, he is famous for his designs for the Italian manufacturer Kartell, many of which are made from polycarbonate plastic. World famous products he has designed include the transparent Louis Ghost chair, Ero|S| chair, Bubble Club sofa, and La Boheme stool. He has also been involved in the relaunch of the World War II-era Navy Chair in the U.S., designing a classic furniture collection around it.[6]

[edit] Restaurant interiors

Among his interior designs for restaurants, Starck design the Felix restaurant-bar at the The Peninsula Hong Kong, a classic hotel facing the Hong Kong harbour on the Kowloon side. This design, located on the 28th floor, is known for several design features including the men's washroom, which features urinals facing glass, and a spectacular view of the Kowloon cityscape.[7][8]

An earlier design by Starck, now world famous, was for the Café Costes in Paris (1984).

[edit] Hotel interiors

In 1988, Starck was commissioned by famed nightclub impresario Ian Schrager, former co-owner of Studio 54, to refit the Royalton Hotel on New York’s East 44th Street.[9] It was a design moment that has since changed the hotel industry; boutique hotels, where design is an important factor, became the industry buzz. However the Schrager hotels are also known for their celebrity and publicity orientations that attract attention to the hotels.

The Starck-Schrager design hotel partnerships continued in New York at the Paramount hotel, and then spread to Miami with the opening of the Delano Hotel[10] in South Beach in 1995, to Los Angeles with the Mondrian Hotel in December 1996 [11][12], to London with both the St. Martins Lane hotel in 1999[13][14] and the Sanderson hotel in 2000,[15] to San Francisco and the Clift hotel, and finally back to New York with the Hudson hotel, with what is described as "Cheap Chic".[16]

The look and feel of Starck-Schrager hotels has been highly influential, including the approaches at Starwood’s W hotels.

Starck also designed Jia - the first Philippe Starck-designed boutique hotel in Asia.

From 2007 until 2022, Starck is under an exclusive contract with nightclub mogul Sam Nazarian to design Nazarian's new hotel brand, SLS Hotels. The first property, SLS Los Angeles at Beverly Hills (a massive renovation of the former Le Méridien At Beverly Hills), is currently scheduled to open on July 15, 2008, and will be entirely designed by Starck. The hotel lobby will feature unique Starck-designed display cases featuring rotating design items curated by gallerist Murray Moss.

From December 2007, Philippe Starck and his daughter Ara were involved in the redecoration of public areas at Le Meurice, Paris.[17]

[edit] Property developments

Through YOO, Starck has also been involved in the creation of several property developments, which feature Starck designed interiors, one of which is Meta By Starck in Sydney,Australia as well as the G-tower in Dubai. Other developments have been undertaken in Boston, Copenhagen, Dallas, Hong Kong, Leeds, London, Melbourne, Miami, Munich, New York, Phuket, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Panama, Obzor, Puerto Vallarta,Hamburg, Manchester, The Lakes, Punta del Este, and Pune.

[edit] Wind energy

His work with the Pramac energy group[18], has produced a design for windmills that also function as wind instruments: [19]

“ Ecology is not just an urgency of the economy and protection of our world but also creativity and elegance ”

He has created a personal power-generating windmill (L'éolienne individuelle Pramac)[20] in polycarbonate[21] resting on one platform in wood, that can be purchased for about 400 Euros (about $633). It is a design, but also functional, generating 20 to 60 percent of a home’s energy needs. [22]

[edit] Other works

Asahi Beer Hall with the "Asahi Flame" (1989), known locally as the "Golden Turd"
Asahi Beer Hall with the "Asahi Flame" (1989), known locally as the "Golden Turd"

[edit] See also

[edit] Awards

  • Oscar de luminaire (Paris, 1980)
  • Trois premièrs prix au Neocon (Chicago, 1986)
  • Delta de Plaia (Barcelona, 1986)
  • Platinum Circle Award (Chicago, 1987)
  • Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle (France, 1988)
  • Troix Prix pour les hotêls Royalton et Paramount de New York (U.S., 1988/1990)
  • Officier des Arts et des Lettres (France, 1995)
  • Design Zentrum NordRhein-Westfallen (Germany, 1995)
  • Premio Internacional de Diseño (Barcelona, 1995)
  • Harvard Excellence in Design Award (U.S., 1997)
  • Commandant de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France, 1998)
  • Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur (France, 2000)
  • Pratt Institute Black Alumni Award (U.S., 2001)
  • Compasso d'Oro (Italy, 2001)
  • Red Dot Best of the Best Award (2001)
  • IF Design Award (2002)
  • Observeur de Design d'Etoile (2002)

[edit] Personal life

Starck lives in four different cities: Paris for public relations; New York, where he does most of his technical work; Burano (Italy), where he also works; and London.

As of 2007, Starck had four children from three marriages.[23]

[edit] Cultural influence

The Montreal-based electro-pop band Koo Starck named themselves after a hybrid of Koo Stark and Philippe Starck, claiming their inspiration as "industrial design, soft porn, and royal scandal."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Heller, Lara (22 April 2002). Target to launch 'Starck Reality' with more than 50 products.
  2. ^ Microsoft Optical Mouse by Starck.
  3. ^ Haines, Lester (14 December 2005). Philippe Starck to design Virgin Galactic spaceport. The Register.
  4. ^ Page, Lewis (5 September 2007). Virgin rocket-ship terminal revealed. The Register.
  5. ^ http://www.italiandesign360.com/ARTICLES_ARCHIVES/2008/April/Green_Energy_Design_by_Interni_Magazine.aspx
  6. ^ Hogrefe, Jeffrey. Peace Work. Metropolis Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  7. ^ Photos of the urinals at the Felix. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  8. ^ Felix restaurant webpage Interior view of Felix restaurant, with view across harbor of Hong Kong Island. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  9. ^ Hotel website Royalton hotel, New York Retrieved 8 December 2008
  10. ^ Delano hotel, Miami, USA Retrieved 9 December 2008
  11. ^ Mondrian hotel, Los Angeles Retrieved 9 December 2008
  12. ^ Philippe Starck's renovation of the Mondrian brings a fresh definition of glamour to Los Angeles, March 1997. Retrieved 8 December 2008
  13. ^ St Martins Lane hotel, London. Retrieved 9 December 2008
  14. ^ Caroline Roux. Blueprint. 'It's showtime', October 1999. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
  15. ^ Rebecca Letty, The Sunday Times, 'Staying power', 23 April 2000. Retrieved 8 December 2008
  16. ^ Hudson Hotel, New York. Retrieved 9 December 2007
  17. ^ The Revelation, [1], Retrieved 18 April 2008
  18. ^ http://www.pramac.com/lang.php
  19. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2008/03/16/style/t/index.html#pageName=16style
  20. ^ http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2008/04/28/03004-20080428ARTFIG00340-philippe-starck-democratise-l-ecologie.php
  21. ^ http://demotec.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/green-energy-design-democratic-ecology-di-philippe-starck/#more-156
  22. ^ http://www.portlandspaces.net/blog/the-design-district/2008/4/21/more-from-milan
  23. ^ Rebecca Lowthorpe, The Independent.Interview: Philippe Starck - Leading light, 2 June 2002. Retrieved 8 December 2008

[edit] External links