Quirky Quintessential

Exploratory designer Pierre Charpin is Maison&Objet 2017 Designer of The Year.

- Jolene limuco

With his whimsical sometimes-abstract works, one would think that Pierre Charpin is a sculptor. Born to a family of artists, Charpin had always been exposed to art and conceptual design – his father was a sculptor and his mother a tapestry artisan specialising in high-warp weaving.

But the Frenchman is known more for his objects and designs for prominent furniture and interior brands like Ligne Roset, Wrong. London and Alessi. Since the early 1990s, Charpin concentrated on working on furniture and object designs, taking commissions from renowned furniture brands and pursuing a variety of research projects on materials. The fact that he did not become an artist was more to do with his reaction towards his parents as artists, as he wanted to carve out a creative path for himself and not merely follow his parents’ footsteps.