Look back of Maison & Objet 2021, Paris Design Week, France

The Paris Design Week 2021 reopened from 13 – 18 September, following 15 long months of being deprived of in-person events, industry professionals from the home decor, design, crafts and lifestyle sectors were finally able to get together with their projects in style. The September edition of Maison & Objet, the key enent of the Paris Design Week, welcome to all those with a passion for design to share with us their art of living, looking and designing.

“Desirable Development” is adopting the same theme as The 2021 edition of Paris Design Week and Maison & Objet. Having spent almost two years asking fundamental questions about how to tackle such an unprecedented global situation, the design sector has widely queried society’s day -to -day habits regarding usage, transport, consumption, work and even leisure. All our givens have been turned on their heads. As we emerge from the pandemic, everyone has their sights set on being more reasonable. But that certainly doesn’t mean turning our backs on pleasure, desire or the need to connect with others.

Rethinking our habits with enthusiasm and an open mind consequently appears to be absolutely crucial. The design world has demonstrated a huge amount of ingenuity, resilience and drive in an effort to continue making, inventing and inspiring. This unprecedented edition provide a stage for the design community to come together and generously share all its new ideas, helping make tomorrow a healthier world that shows greater respect for the environment and lives in general.

With the return of Maison & Objet to Paris-Nord Villepinte and with Paris Design Week in the heart of the capital, Paris Design Week are able to offer design and decoration professionals and enthusiasts the opportunity to connect and engage in person once again. Driven by enthusiasm, passion and energy, Paris Design Week are firmly focused on bringing you the very best of design in Paris.

Rising talents and iconic design brands, young graduates and museum institutions, freshly launched design houses, artisans and designermakers with inspired and inspiring hands all flock to Paris to invent and showcase their vision of a desirable lifestyle. A lifestyle that is in harmony with nature, that leverages technology to bring people together, whilst drawing on traditional expertise that is handed down from generation to generation, bearing witness to the passing of time. Desirable Development helps strike that subtle and much longed for balance that sets us on the path of uninhibited revival.

The desire and inclination to reconnect in person were palpable, ranging from the most promising rising talents to the most highly acclaimed interior designers. It’s crucial for anyone working in the decoration and design sector to be able to discover and actually touch and feel new collections, Whilst clients were finally able to get up close and personal with products.

The attendance figures and transaction volumes actually exceeded all participants’ expectations, paving the way for an even more ambitious future. Exhibitors were able to revel in the satisfaction of seeing their order books rapidly fill, with average sales values even exceeding those of previous editions. Enthusiasm amongst specifiers was notably apparent in the WORK! and PROJECTS sectors, which primarily focused on the innovations now available within these two markets that have been booming for a number of months.

In recent years, the exhibition has begun to gradually transcend the limitations of space. This year, three districts of Paris responded to the trend of design week, and pushed the latest ideas to the streets. The 2021 edition galvanised support from a record number professional from the Parisian design, crafts and lifestyle scene. Featuring almost 300 installations of a quality never previously seen, The positive energy rippled out beyond the walls of the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition centre and right into the heart of the city via Paris Design Week.

The Maison & Objet celebrate the trade fair’s return by deciphering a new inspiration theme: the revival of luxury. It is a theme that is geared towards highlighting the upmarket offering at the heart of the event, inviting exhibitors to stage the kind of spectacular installation for which the trade fair is so well known.

The Rising Talent Awards also return, which at this particular edition shine a light on up-and-coming Japanese designers. These young designers attend at the same time with architect Franklin Azzi. Named as Designer of the Year in 2020, he present his project in the WORK! sector, which is now one of the trade fair’s regular features.

Building on the success of the city-based events held in parallel to the trade fairs in Paris-Nord Villepinte, Maison&Objet was launching a new “In the City” itinerary taking in some of the French capital’s design showrooms, galleries and pop-up stores.

The Maison & Objet, a highly ambitious edition, didn’t closed after the Paris Design Weekt, it notably served as an encouraging transition to January 2022. September’s dynamic event delivered on absolutely every level, confirming this edition as the one that marks a bounce back to business.

Design District
Paris Design Week is also the opportunity to visit Paris and rediscover the pleasures of simply strolling around the City of Light and listening to how its heart beats to the rhythm of design. Paris Design Week is an umbrella event covering over 300 addresses all waiting to be explored.

The capital has been divided into three geographical zones – Rive Gauche, Opéra – Concorde – Étoile and Palais-Royal – Marais – Bastille – each of which illustrates in its own way one aspect of design. Iconic design companies, Entreprises du Patrimoine Vivant (companies awarded the “living heritage” label), design schools and independent studios all come together at the vernissages.

Events
In September 2011 Maison&Objet took on the challenge of imagining an event that could share the energy of its aisles and its offerings with the general public. In its wake, Paris Design Week was born. A festive, unifying gathering which flies the banner of the art of living and in which the whole city reveals the innumerable talents within. Designers, architects, decorators, fashion designers, and chefs have answered the call through spaces that bring creation to life in the city.

The event extends over two weekends to help visitors discover exhibitions and installations in 200 participating sites; eight full days for many meetings within the framework of an expanded program of cocktail parties, open houses, workshops, private tours and roundtables.

Essential for all the major French and international players in the world of home design, to whom Paris offer the best in trends, innovations, decoration and design. Essential because of the concentrated energy in this early September period, with Maison&Objet Paris, the leading home decor fair connecting the international interior design and lifestyle community.

Paris Design Week Factory
From 9 th to 13th September, Paris Design Week Factory, the flagship event for young international designers, was setting up home on the right bank in partnership with Galeries Joseph. Specifically targeting young talent, the event’s vocation is to spot up-and-coming names and help them kick-start their careers. These fledgling designers from across the globe present prototypes and previously unseen collections, attracting an ever-larger crowd each year. This year, the Paris Design Week Factory was taking over Galerie Joseph on rue Froissart, Galerie Joseph at 116 rue de Turenne.

Espace Commines
Cast your eyes over the work of some twenty designers, who all be sharing their very own take on the Desirable Development theme. Lucile Viaud is one of the designers in question. She was joined by the Design Category winners of the City of Paris’s Grand Prix de la Création (Hors-Studio’s Rebecca Fézard and Elodie Michaud). Then, there’s Grégory Granados with his STEP Project: a musical instrument crafted from scavenged, recycled and upcycled objects that is so huge it can only be played by several people at a time, with each individual having to move in order to create a tune. Also worth another look is the work from Solum Lignum (*address to be confirmed shortly), who was initially discovered in 2020 thanks to the “Où est Demain” exhibition curated by Hélène Aguilar.

Keen to go further in its support to the design community, Paris Design Week organize with Catawiki, an online auction platform dedicated to exceptional goods, a prototype auction sale from September 8 to 18. Some of these designers’ prototypes was showcased at the Espace Commines. The goal of such an initiative is to offer collectors unique pieces while generating an additional revenue for designers who more often than not have largely invested personally to create their prototypes.

World design
World design project turning the spotlight on international creativity, with Paris further cementing its reputation as a showcase for global design by exhibiting a selection of designers and makers from all around the world. España a mano invite visitors to dive into a sea of handcrafted Spanish wares with a modern -day twist. Then, there’s London -based French – Cameroonian designer Pierre Christophe Gam who was presenting “NJOYA”, a collection inspired by Cameroonian artisan expertise and that celebrates one of the country’s socio -ecological treasures, raffia. Bamboo raffia had been gradually abandoned in favour of wood, and the collection help it regain its crown. Put together in partnership with the artisans from the French -Cameroonian NGO Jean -Felicien Gacha, it feature a full range of indoor and outdoor furnishings as well as a rug.

Future of Living, an exhibition spearheaded by the Slovenian Embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture to mark the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council, offer an innovative take on how Slovenian design caters to society’s future needs with products that cleverly combine local materials and traditional crafts. The work of 32 designers was exhibited as part of a roving exhibition scheduled to travel to over 25 cities worldwide.

Maison Marcoux showcase a new design collection created with passion and commitment in Mexico, blending ancestral expertise with a modern-day approach to design.

Galerie Joseph, 116 rue de Turenne
The project invited independent designers and young professional studios to explore the Desirable Development theme. As an ideas laboratory and a new materials innovation and experimentation hub, 116 rue de Turenne turn the spotlight on self-production and emerging design, making it an address that’s an absolute must for unearthing tomorrow’s hidden gems. The venue also feature work from the graduates of the Reims and SaintEtienne Colleges of Art and Design (ESAD – Ecole Supérieur d’Art et de Design).

The Campus des Métiers d’Art et du Design has put together the Vivement Demain ! exhibition to showcase the work of 8 art and design colleges. It offers a walk through every aspect of design in the widest sense of the term, ranging from furniture and interior design to graphic design and even textile design and fashion. It is an exhibition that places the decorative arts resolutely centre stage, with projects demonstrating a combination of innovation, audacity and a keen eye for detail, spearheaded by young up -and -coming designers who are in tune with modern times and keen to address the challenges of the future.

Watchmaking, featherwork, stained glassmaking, stone carving, woodwork, ceramics and gilding… A broad spectrum of rare skills was on show through the students’ work, offering an exciting opportunity to explore the French decorative arts’ rich and unique heritage, which is perpetuated by the art and design colleges spearheaded by the Campus des Métiers d’Art et du Design.

The 8 colleges taking part are the École Camondo, the École Estienne, the École Bleue, the École Boulle, the École Duperré, the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art, the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle and the École des Arts Décoratifs de Paris.

Intramuros magazine welcome you in their sociable café space, where you can meet and chat over drinks whilst admiring an installation created especially for the event. Furnishings and accessories also be available for visitors to purchase on-site.

Maison & Objet Academy
Maison & Objet Academy. serves up a range of content for industry professionals, giving them access to training, inspiration, and the chance to explore all the exciting new finds and previously undiscovered gems unearthed by the trade fair’s experts. The Academy’s Studio, which had set up its studio in the very heart of the event, created content to upload to the channel as soon as the fair drew to a close. Maison & Objet Academy channel are consequently witnessing the trade fair strike a new balance as a media in its own right, offering the full package of exceptionally effective physical and digital tools.

This exciting new project is the direct result of the efforts the Maison&Objet organisers made throughout the pandemic to optimise the digital offering via the MOM digital platform (Maison&Objet and More). The work they did to help brands launch their collections at specific times and underpinned by specific themes met with enormous success.

Joint Exhibitions
Paris Design Week also offers the perfect opportunity to discover the international brands that have elected Paris as their showcase of choice. With a natural and longstanding affinity for the decorative arts and design, Paris appears to be asserting its status as the world’s design capital more than ever before

Get a taste for Milan in Paris as a handful of Italy’s most iconic design houses, such as Cassina, Giorgetti, Molteni&C Dada, Vitra, Unifor and Artemide, jump at the chance to unveil their 2021 collections, which simultaneously be on show in Milan. Over at Molteni&C Dada, you was able to feast your eyes on the modern-day take on the 60-year-old Round chair from Gio Ponti, whilst Danish design house Karakter, managed by Cassina, was presenting its firstever international showroom featuring pieces by contemporary designers and world-famous architects alike, such as Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Joe Colombo, Bodil Kjær, Angelo Mangiarotti and Paul McCobb.

The Finnish Institute is set to showcase the whimsical work of ceramicist Matias Karsikas, winner of Design Forum Finland’s Young Designer of the Year Award in 2020. Karsikas’ work straddles the line between design, art and craftsmanship, combining materials such as ceramics, glass and wood to create one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces. The wood he uses in his designs has often been scavenged from the countryside, retaining its wild silhouette, and at times his finished pieces don’t even appear to be made from ceramics. This is one emerging talent that’s certainly set to surprise!

Paris Design Week is so much more than just the professional showrooms and stores who are launching their new collections. With Design Sur Cour, a programme that has become increasingly popular over the past few years, it also be bringing something new to some of the city’s best-known institutions via a series of gigantic outdoor pop-up installations.

The courtyard at the Hôtel de Lamoignon (Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris) host a wide variety of exhibitions organised by France Bois Forêt promoting the wood industry, including projects from Alexis Tricoire and Noma Edition. Alexis Tricoire is set to install Le Refuge, a giant hut surrounded by plants that is a haven for meditation. This calm, peaceful space was initially designed for the COP21 Paris climate conference to make people more aware of the importance of environmental protection.

French artist, painter, designer and Master of Art Pierre Bonnefille was setting up home at the Heidelbach Hotel, which belongs to France’s National Museum for Asian Art, the Guimet Museum.

The focal point of his exhibition was the Meditation Room, installed in an 18th century wood-panelled salon, inviting contemplation and meditation. For this particular installation, Pierre Bonnefille recreate a vast circular room whose walls, shaped from his Bronze Paintings emblazoned with a layer of gold, reflect a very unique kind of light. The paint becomes one with the installation, covering the entire surface of the structure and inspiring movement. Exploring this immersive environment sparks a physical reaction, inviting visitors to experience something that is simultaneously personal and collective.

Designer and stylist Pierre Gonalons was heading to the last remaining XVIIth-century orangery in Paris over at the Sully Hôtel, which is home to France’s Centre of National Monuments. In stunning surroundings alongside the Place des Vosges and overlooking the French-style garden, visitors was invited to step through the doors of the orangery for the first time ever, as though entering the summer room of a large French mansion.

Pierre Gonalons’ brand-new ultra-modern creations, notably produced in collaboration with Craman Lagarde, Carrésol, Duvivier and Les Emaux de Longwy, was installed in such a way as to cleverly interact with the majestic XVIIth-century Parisian architecture.

At the Cognacq Jay museum, meanwhile, designer William Amor (Créations Messagères), renowned for his painstaking talent for creating poetic flowers from upcycled materials, was presenting an installation that interacts with Boucher and Fragonard’s works. It offer a brand-new way of exploring the museum’s permanent collections by adding a sprinkling of poetry imbued with a message focusing on environmental protection, perfectly in tune with this year’s core theme.

Le Mobilier National is inviting the designers from the A+A Cooren studio and artist Miguel Chevalier to take over the Chapelle des Gobelins, whilst its museum display the results of a competition that invited design college students to redesign school playground furniture.

At the Hôtel de Coulanges, meanwhile, Hélène Aguilar, founder of the Association supporting sustainable design, was curating the Frugal exhibition, designed as a veritable experience focusing on the kind of design that respects the living world and addresses challenges related to the environment and the climate. It is an exhibition that invites us to rethink our approach to beauty, encouraging us to look for it in the frugal and sustainable. The aim of this exhibition, which spans 300m2, is to showcase the work of over 40 engaged designers who are all experimenting with innovative techniques and materials (seaweed, fungi, shells, offcuts, etc.) to come up with resilient and timeless design solutions. Some of the leading names in forward-looking design present their work around three key themes: materials, objects and plants. They include Samy Rio (professor/researcher at the Luma foundation in Arles and winner of the Villa Noailles Design Parade Grand Prix) and Lucile Viaud (designer and researcher).

Paris Design Week is also an invitation to discover how designs are produced, with the public being invited to visit the workshops at the Cours de L’industrie and the Villa du Lavoir for the first time ever this year. Just like the craftsmen’s guilds upon which the history of Paris was forged, these modern-day hubs for designers and craftsmen are prime examples of the local creative drive that keeps Paris buzzing all year round.

The Ateliers de Paris, a veritable creative incubator for Parisian fashion and design, also be holding open days, offering the public a behind-the-scenes look at the workshops of their resident artists for 2021.

In the same vein, led by Dan Yeffet, the artisans and craftsmen at the Viaduc des Arts are joining forces for an exhibition entitled “Before and After, the history of a handcrafted object”. It was held beneath the arch at France’s National Institute of Arts and Crafts, and is set to examine the creative process as well as offering an insight into the different materials used and the various stages through which they pass. Understanding the work and time that goes into creating pieces that have their own story to tell is also one of the truly exciting aspects of Paris Design Week.

A handful of typically Parisian addresses are set to lift the veil on their expertise. The fine crafts concept store Empreintes is organising Scènes d'(En)vie, an itinerary that runs across three floors and examines the ways in which fine crafts can help us live hand-in-hand with the urban environment.

The Philippe Hurel workshop, meanwhile, is teaming up with the start-up CrearityLuxe to breathe life into a selection of upcycled accessories and one-off pieces. CrearityLuxe seeks to make good use of luxury design houses’ sleeping stocks of raw materials by helping both up-and-coming designers and engaged brands to identify and source them. This particular collaboration is underpinned by a communal passion for beautiful materials and a shared love of fashion and design, driven by a cross-disciplinary approach. The partnership has resulted in a range of original upcycled Pop-style creations that was on display at the Philippe Hurel Showroom.

New design houses emerge onto the scene, alongside up-andcoming brands or exciting new design addresses Paris Design Week provides a long-awaited opportunity to update your little black book by helping you place your finger on the latest design trends and introducing you to the newest arrivals on the home design and decor scene.

Tableware designer Marie Daage is opening her first-ever store, an unusual venue that reflects her delicate world, which serves up a veritable potpourri of expertise and exclusive colours. Moore Design also be inaugurating its new concept store, whilst Tai Ping is setting up home in a new showroom just a stone’s throw from the place des Victoires. Art&Floritude, a design house that produces truly stunning lights, was opening the doors of its first Parisian address for the Jardin Secret installation, setting up home in a former paint factory to celebrate nature and showcase a luxuriant light installation inspired by plants. In a nod to the grape harvest season, the design house’s iconic vines ramble across the walls and ceilings, intertwining with some brand-new creations, a celebration of metal lacework, handcrafted sheet by sheet, and adorned with porcelain flowers whose transparency is revealed by the light.

The Valérie Guérin Gallery is launching a new cycle of exhibitions and creations on the “Reconciling mankind with nature” theme, working in conjunction with a number of designers including MarieSarah Adenis, Germain Bourré, Laurent Godart, Jean-Sébastien Lagrange, Sophie Larger, Maximum, Raphaël Ménard, Philippe Rahm, Brook Sigal, Samuel Tomatis and Lucile Viaud, all of whom have come up with some unique designs especially for the event. Inspired by Yannick and Fanny Gicquel, the founders of la Fibule, Popus Editions, a new face on the design scene, is set to open its first pop-up store on rue de Turenne to show off its colourful collections that exude an upbeat ’70s vibe.

Seminars
Paris Design Week Talks: ten panel discussions was held during Paris Design Week Factory at 116, rue de Turenne, at Café Intramuros. Organized with the magazine, they bring together experts in design and architecture, who share their experiences.

A New Generation Committed To Sustainable Design – Environmental issues are at the heart of this new generation of designers’ concerns and are essential to their creative approaches.

Competitions: Fostering Creativity With A Committed Message – Competitions are a showcase to spot young talents and help them to get their foot in the door. They also provide a way to promote certain commitments with the contest’s starting brief.

The Csr Approach: Somewhere Between Storytelling And Design Strategy – Though it may not be legally required, the CSR approach is quickly becoming an essential element in consumer confidence and expectations and a key part of corporate identity.

Innovative Materials And Biomaterials – With experimentation and research, designers are developing new materials, including biomaterials.

Mission: Sustainable In Interior Design – Frequently consulted these past few years around environmental issues, manufacturers’ R&D departments are now offering solutions and new materials based on recycled or bio-sourced elements.

Sourcing: Material Traceability And Support For Supply Chains – Taking into account traceability, local economic issues, and localized supply chains, sales channels are reinventing themselves, well beyond simple product labelling or certification.

Luxury And Sustainable Innovation – Avant-garde by nature, the luxury sector is adapting to environmental issues to provide solutions for societal concerns and invent new niche markets, both in terms of objects and experiences.

Design Expertise To Highlight Unique Know-How And Create Or Revive A Market – Whether it’s to find a new niche or revive a specific market, the design approach helps highlight expert skills, on the company, studio, or local community scale.

The Emergence Of New Markets – Purchasing furniture on lease or giving products a second lease on life… new pathways are being explored to meet consumer expectations, and are defining new market niches.