Philippe Starck“I’m always out to change things rethink them

and make them better.”

W.W.Stool, 1990Juicy Salif, 1991

• Philippe Starck is one of the best-known contemporary designers in the world.

• He has not only received public acclaim for his amazing building interior designs but has also proved to be an accomplished architect and product designer.

• Philippe Starck was born in Paris on 18th January 1949.

• As a youngster he was already an enthusiastic draughtsman, probably inspired by his father, who worked as an aircraft designer.

• From the mid-sixties, Starck attended the Ecole Nissim de Camondo in Paris, and he set up his first company in 1968 to produce inflatable objects.

• In 1979 he founded the "Starck Product" company.

• As an interior designer he was responsible in 1982 for refurnishing the private apartments in the Elysée Palace in Paris for President Mitterrand of France.

• In New York he was responsible for the interior design of the Royalton and Paramount hotels (1988 and 1990), and played a leading part in the design of the Groningen Museum in the Netherlands in 1991.

• He has also designed a number of office buildings as well as private dwelling houses and apartment blocks.

• In Paris a whole street block, La Rue Starck, is going up to his designs (1991).

Aluminum and plastic pitcherBoot prototype

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• In the field of industrial design, he has been responsible for the creation of a wide variety of objects including noodles for Panzani, boats for Beneteau, mineral-water bottles for Glacier, kitchen appliances for Alessi, toothbrushes for Fluocaril, luggage for Vuitton, "Urban Fittings" for Decaux, office furniture for Vitra, as well as vehicles, computers, door-knobs, spectacle frames, etc.

• Starck´s work has brought him numerous prizes and awards. • Objects designed by him can be seen on display in the collections of a number of

European and American museums.

• The items Starck designs become objects of adoration and desire. • Although many of them are eventually mass-produced, they often remain akin to

artworks in their basic function. • Starck has created his own style, which, although not uniform, remains highly

recognisable. • Rather than sharing common forms, his designs share a metaphoric dimension that

is sometimes loaded with irony and parody.

Lazy Working Sofa, 1998

Motorcycle, 1995

Watches sold by Fossil

Paramount Hotel, NY

Ian Schrager Hotels

Cafe Costes, Paris