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Friday, December 13, 2013

Fifty years from now: Grégoire de Lafforest

Grégoire de Lafforest (1978- ) is a French architect and designer. He is a graduate of ESAG Penninghen (Ecole supérieure de design, d’art graphique et d’architecture intérieure). After completing his studies, he worked for several architectural firms, including 4B1 (Bruno Moinard), Noé Duchaufour Lawrance and Gilles & Boissier.

With these large firms, he worked on projects for Hermès, Cartier and Veuve Clicquot. At the same time, he was starting his own projects.

One of his first was his own apartment in Paris with his wife Stephanie. He moved and rebuilt walls to maximize the effect of light and designed furniture for the residence, as well as assembling pieces from a number of other sources, such as a pillow from Maison de Vacances, an armchair by Häberli, tables by Habitat, a chandelier by Ingo Maurer and even a few pieces from IKEA.

His designs that most intrigue me are his Mono mirror, his Tolbiac shelving unit, his bendable Keiko bench made of sycamore leaves tensioned by a ratchet strap on which they're strung and his Montaigne leather stool that operates on the same culbuto principle that allows Weebles to wobble but not fall down.

He has designed some of the most beautiful, interesting and innovative pieces I've seen. I first saw his Mono mirror on the Plastolux blog (thanks, Tyler!) and had to find out more about the designer himself. This young man is bound to have a place in design history fifty years from now.

From gregoiredelafforest.com and design4dreaming.net




Mono mirror
gregoiredelafforest.com

Close-up of the Mono mirror
gregoiredelafforest.com

Tolbiac wall unit
gregoiredelafforest

Close-up of the Tolbiac
gregoiredelafforest.com

Keiko bench
gregoiredelafforest.com

Keiko bench design
gregoiredelafforest.com

Montaigne stool
gregoiredelafforest.com

Montaigne stool, weighted with lead
gregoiredelafforest.com

Felix nightstand (closed)
gregoiredelafforest.com

Felix nightstand (open)
gregoiredelafforest.com

Felix nightstand (open in the dark)
gregoiredelafforest.com

Cassette carpet with slots to insert pedestal tables
gregoiredelafforest.com

Archibird Cage table
gregoiredelafforest.com

Opper Meridian lounge
gregoiredelafforest.com

Olab lamp
gregoiredelafforest.com

Vola wall unit
gregoiredelafforest.com

Interior, Rue Voltaire project
gregoiredelafforest.com

Interior, Rue Voltaire project
gregoiredelafforest.com

Interior, Rue Voltaire project
gregoiredelafforest.com

Interior, de Lafforest apartment
gregoiredelafforest.com

8 comments:

  1. Oh my ... I have a new crush and a new haircut style for Martha. Breathtakingly gorgeous. Everything. xo

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    1. When I saw that mirror on Tyler's blog, I knew there had to be more...but I wasn't prepared for what I found. I'm completely in love with his designs.

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  2. Replies
    1. Usually "playful" isn't my thing in design, but he does it so elegantly!

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  3. I want an Archibird Cage Table and the Tolbiac wall unit is just genius from a practical standpoint. No more worries about a huge bookcase toppling over! This man understands the beauty of woodgrain, too. Thank you, Dana, for featuring Gregoire!

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    1. I have a cousin who would absolutely love the cage table too, and I agree that the Tolbiac is genius. Just one little angle makes it so stable!

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  4. I love the glass house! You could buy it at Maison du Monde btw!

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    1. I love the glass house too. I'd love to have one as a real greenhouse outdoors. I like the half-sized one that Maison du Monde has too.

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