Pierre Paulin

Pierre Paulin is considered the designer who was able to best interpret the change of the 60s and 70s with eclectic and sculptural furnishings. Born in Paris in 1927 to a French father and a Swiss-German mother, he first moved to Vallaurius, where he worked as a ceramist and then went to Burgundy where he specialized as a stone sculptor. He later attended Ecole Camondo in Paris where he graduated in 1950. His design career began with training under Parisian artist Marcel Gascion, who introduced him to Scandinavian aesthetics and modern American designers such as Charles and Rey Eames and Florence Knoll. In 1958 Pierre began producing furniture for the Artifort furniture company, creating a wide range of seats made with molded wooden shells and covered with elasticized fabrics. The elements that distinguish its design are the soft, rounded shapes and bright colors, taking inspiration from natural shapes such as mushrooms, oysters and tulips. In the 1960s he designed various types of furniture such as the Mushroom chair (still exhibited today in the permanent collection of the MoMa in New York), the Ribbon armchair and the Pacha composition of armchairs and sofas.