Philippe Starck

by Philippe Starck

Illustrated throughout. Bound in the publisher's original boards with the spine stamped in white. Text is in English, German, and French.

Genres: Design, Art

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Philippe Starck is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles.

Reviews

[W.B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very little to read here. It's mostly just looking. Designer Philippe Starck in a lusciously photographed retrospective circa 2000. I remember how distinctive his things looked when they filtered into Target stores in America back in the day. But they looked familiar too. Starck is a bit of a prankster and likes re-purposing art's Greatest Hits. I remember some items in Target that were clearly "covers" of Brancusi's Bird in Space. And there seem to be nods to some Bauhaus designs in here also. Maybe even a little aping of some of Koons' sculpture. The man is not afraid to design anything, really. There's clothing and canoes and even really lovely houses he did in collaboration with architects. The Placido Arango Jr. House in Madrid looks lovely. Le Moult in Paris looks interestingly different but feels a little mortuarial to me. And there's the Groningen Museum (in collaboration with Alessandro Mendini). I suppose his most famous contribution to architecture is the topper (Fascinator a la Treacy for architecture?) on the Asahi Beer Hall in Tokyo (1990). That has to be one of the most photographed objects of recent times. But there are other Starck structures in Japan and to call them striking would be an understatement. There's Nani Nani in Tokyo and Le Baron Vert in Osaka overlooking that ancient little cemetery. I think he relishes his role as a visual renegade. He does weird things out of exuberance and likes to design objects which seem to quote the human body. For example, he gave an X-Acto knife a clitoris. And he rendered a mineral water body a breast by placing a nipple on the top (Glacier brand). His Louis XX chair looks like a woman who has turned into a piece of furniture. He's basically IKEA on acid.