Philippe Starck, Café chairs

PHILIPPE STARCK (Paris, 1949) for Baleri.
Pair of "Café" chairs.
Steel tube. Seat is made of lasten: latex rubber and black polypropylene straps.
With die-cut publisher's stamp and artist's name.
Measurements: 84 x 54 x 53 cm.

The PS210 coffee chair was designed by Philippe Starck for the famous Parisian cafe Costes. This series features a chair, a small bar stool and a large bar stool. It is a piece of furniture with a post-modern style, sensual shape and strong character that elegantly combines curved (backrest and knees) and straight (rest of the structure) silhouettes.

Philippe Starck is a French industrial designer recognized worldwide for the functionality of his designs as much as for their aesthetics. He is a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France, and has won international awards such as the Interior Architecture Award and the Auszeichnung für hohe Designqualität, among others. Philippe Starck told Casa Vogue, "My concept of democratic design is based on the following idea: to give quality pieces at affordable prices to the greatest number of people. To lower the price and increase the quality. It's my political conscience." In 1969, Starck designed an inflatable structure, based on the idea of materiality, which reflected his initial interest in living spaces. Not long after, Pierre Cardin, seduced by iconoclastic design, offered him the position of artistic director at his publishing house. In 1970, Philippe Starck founded his first industrial design company, Starck Product, later renamed Ubik after Philip K. Dick's famous novel. Here he began working with the major design manufacturers in Italy, Driade, Alessi, Kartell, and others throughout Europe, Drimmer in Austria, Vitra in Switzerland and Disform in Spain, for example. In 1983, then French President François Mitterrand, on the recommendation of his Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, chose Starck to renovate the president's private apartments at the Élysée. The following year he designed the Café Costes. Over the years, Starck worked with top Italian furniture brands, including the creation of the iconic Generic chair for Kartell, the innovative Lady Hio table for Glass Italia and elegant sofas and armchairs for the likes of Cassina and Driade. Starck has won prestigious awards such as the "Oscar du luminaire" (1980), the Silver Delta Award (1986), the Platinum Circle (1987), the Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle (1988), the Interior Architecture Award (1990), the Twelfth Annual Interiors Award (1991), the Good Design Award (1995, 2000), the Auszeichnung für hohe Designqualität (1998) and the German Ranking Design Award (2000), among others. In 1985, he was also made a knight of the French Order of Arts and Letters.