I surprised myself when I started writing about Pierre
Paulin. As I researched his past, I started to feel a
similarity between Pierre and my father in terms of accolades and undue
applause. Pierre, as you will read, had a very humble perspective
regarding his acknowledgements. The design world gave him many highly coveted awards but he felt it was just what you do when you are asked to do your
job. My father was the master of sincerity and took very
little time to talk about himself. He, like Pierre, was very careful to
keep his feet on the ground. Pierre’s talent took hold and he truly
had a vision and an important contribution to the modern design aesthetic.
Read on!
“A chair should be more than simply functional. It
should be friendly, fun and colorful”.
Born in Paris in 1927, Pierre Paulin grew up in Laon, which
is in Northern France. His uncle, Georgis Paulin, had a huge influence on him. Georgis designed cars for Panhard, Peugeot and Rolls-Royce
Bentley and in fact, he designed the first power-operated retractable hardtop
in 1931.
The early years for Pierre were challenging and he had many
setbacks. First, he failed his baccalaureate and as a result, he
decided his next step would be to enter in to training as a ceramist and a
stone carver. All of this ended due to an injury to his arm so he
then began his studies at Ecole Camondo in Paris. There, his admiration
and appreciation grew for Scandinavian and Japanese Design. Later, he
then found immense respect for American designers, Charles and Ray Eames,
Florence Knoll, Herman Miller and George Nelson. In 1954 he began working
for Thonet and had the opportunity to experiment with using swimwear materials
stretched over traditional chair frames. The real breakthrough came in
1960 when he designed the Mushroom chair while working for Dutch manufacturer
Artifort. The design of Pierre's “Tongue” chair didn’t sit well (pardon the
pun!) with Artiforts boss Harry Wagemans. Pierre argued, “I am trying to
appeal to the young people”. In 1968 he was proven correct when
Harry’s son fell in love with the chair design. After that response, the
chair was off to production!
Pierre Paulin’s career accelerated and many awards and recognition followed, including the 1969 Chicago Design Award for his Ribbon
Chair. Time also brought him many prestigious interior design
assignments. Although he was applauded, he remained modest.
He is quoted as saying, “It’s extremely dangerous to give too much importance
and status to people who are only doing their job. Working for the
enjoyment of the greatest number is very gratifying, much more so than any
official honor”.
He continued to design for many years and even in to his
retirement he came up with new inventive designs. Pierre Paulin died,
June 13th, 2009.
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