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Review of Maison&Objet Autumn-Winter 2007/2008 - A Feast for House and Home
Reviews
By Le Vin Chin
Maison&Objet once again offered a feast to the design-hungry in Paris this September. Course after course – hall after hall – the visitor was stuffed to the gills with stunning arrangements, beautiful pieces, even aromatic presentations.
Yet it wasn’t just an empty repast. There was food for thought too. And an acknowledgement of empty tables elsewhere.
Treasures of Central Asia, at Antirouille
My tour began in the very first hall, where ethnic chic was the order of the day. What constitutes as “ethnic” is an increasingly open question in today’s cosmopolitan world, where otherness is mainstream. And perhaps this was already acknowledged by the sheer size of the ethnic chic exhibit. I saw Chinese lacquer cabinets, doors and doorways from Rajasthan, textiles and jewellery from Central Asia and Nigeria and weblike tree roots to be used as screens and thrones. Shiva and Ganesha stared from many displays, while the serene Buddha was near-ubiquitous.
Unusual looks: D’Autre Part coats their objects with resinated layers of wood, bamboo, coconut, and stone
Yet “ethnic” was also configured from the use of specific design elements, in completely foreign contexts, such as lotus designs in metal or in plastic; or simply from the use of color combinations more associated with foreign climes; or from an unusual use of materials, such as mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell.
Trading Post’s mother-of-pearl-tiled tables
Trend tip: the surface coating which caught my eye at a few stands was brightly mother-of-pearl mosaic chips, for example at Trading Post.
Moving through the next hall – the textile hall, with its profusion of materials, paterns and colors – I came to Artsy Craftsy, a selection from the whole exhibition, curated by François Bernard, with the intention to highlight quality craftsmanship. This was just one of three curated exhibits, the others being NellyRodi’s Alternatif and Élizabeth Leriche’s Scrap, which made a feature of products made from “rubbish” – among others featuring Alberto Dassasso’s Avio chairs in the next hall, la table.
Leather designs by Maison Fey
Moving along to Hall 4, côté deco, I found traditional luxury, as purveyed by master artisans. I was drawn to Maison Fey’s gorgeously colored and embossed leather work.
Lamps at neweba
Lamps at mat&jewski
Hall 5A was a huge bazaar for home accessories and knick-knacks. Here, and again in Hall 5B’s scènes d’interieurs, I found a second trend tip: feathered lampshades: first at neweba and then at mat&jewski.
“Authenticity” by Henri Quinta
Also in scènes d’interieur, I found a disarmingly distressed stand by Henri Quinta, who seemed to have taken to the macro-trend of “authenticity” and then run with it.
Tortoiseshell lamp at Ochre
Nearby was the stand of Ochre, a three-person design partnership, who originated the tortoiseshell lamp I admired earlier. It was refreshing to find this material making a return in this way. Perhaps its time is returning also, as browns were the color of choice at the entire show, thankfully displacing the stark blacks and whites of recent seasons.
Cotto Tiles’ “green” stand …
MAISON&OBJETS projets was next and here I found various stands struggling to outdo each other in presenting themselves as “green” … All that remained was to go through now! design à vivre, with its bazaar of funky things, and I was sated, filled to the brim by the worlds of design within Maison&Objet … until the next show, next season …