Philippe Starck biography
For more than 30 years, Philippe Starck has been an unconventional designer, creator and architect (when asked what he wanted to be as a child he would reply "astrophysicist" or "composer"). He pours his boundless energy and enthusiasm into a myriad of ideas. For him life is about “making poetic products".
Childhood & early days
Philippe Starck’s early inspiration came from his father who was an aircraft engineer. The young Philippe spent hours dismantling toys, bikes, motorbikes and various other objects, taking apart and putting together whatever aroused his curiosity, remaking the world around him.
His mother gave him a poetic vision of the world, an approach to life that he calls "panache." It was on his mother's advice that he studied design at Nissim de Camondo in Paris.
Several years and several prototypes later, and Philippe Starck was commissioned to work for French President François Mitterand. Also at this time Starck was creating furniture for leading Italian firms as well as honing his approach to hotels, classic examples of which can be found in New York and Miami. Starck’s expressionist architecture even started to spring up in Japan.
Hotels & restaurants
Philippe Starck likes to shake up the traditions and culture of major cities around the world as he strives to establish new classics.
The recent opening of the first in a series of Japanese restaurants in America was singled out as "one of the most exciting restaurants of the past ten years." His hotels have brought a new dimension to the American landscape as well as other countries.
When Philippe Starck designs a hotel or restaurant, he pays more attention to what isn't there than what is, creating spaces which visitors will then inhabit and transform. For Starck, “emptiness is more important than fullness”. These are spaces which will take the members of his "cultural tribe" out of themselves and, most importantly, towards something better.
Industrial design: a political act, design for all
Philippe Starck declared very early on his intention to "give the best to as many people as possible," a lone voice when design was turned exclusively towards an elite.
There is little that he has not set his hand to: furniture, crockery, vases, lighting, spectacles, stationery, wrist watches, sunglasses, the Olympic flame, children’s toys, alarm clocks, boats, hotel rooms, toilet brushes, commercial buildings, houses to be sold by mail order and motorbikes ... amongst others.
Environment & innovation
Phillipe Starck’s green credentials were evident way before it become popular to think about the future of the planet. More than 10 years ago he set up a company selling organic food, recently he launched a micro personal windmill and is presently designing hydrogen cars. He is also the Creative Director for the new space project in New Mexico which will be made to the highest environmental standards.
Philippe Starck’s awards include Designer of the Year, the Grand Prix for Industrial Design, the Design Oscar, Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur and the Compasso d’Oro, among many others.
© MMIX