Catherine

Not wishing to simply produce or be rational about a product… Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance prefers that each of his projects has its own unique scenario, nourished without distinction between uses, forms, materials or aesthetics. For him, curves and straight lines, sensuality and strictness interact in confrontations that are conducive to create meaning and awaken our senses. Through his desire to breath life into both the objects and spaces he designs, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance views each project as an organic form that will grow over time with its user, almost like a natural element that can challenge human order or disorder. Originally, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance was a sculptor, preoccupied with each work he created by a story and intimate link with nature that he felt the need to retranscribe by using his hands. But soon the idea of stirring emotions in others by creating useful forms became an evident path for someone who loves the beautiful as much as the functional and harmony as much as social responsibility. So he turned to design… Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance often compares his approach to tsubo niwa, the tiny garden at the center of a traditional Japanese house. Like an organic pulse in a profession dedicated to meeting the demands of an industry, a market or a specific client, he is as ready to design objects with inspired lines for manufacturers (Bernhardt Design, Ceccotti Collezioni, Cinna, Ligne Roset, La Chance, Petite Friture, Tacchini, Zanotta…) as he is to imagine harmonious living areas (Senderens, Air France Lounges, Ciel de Paris, Meurice Oenotheque, Transumance Chalet, #Cloud.paris Lounge…) or even to define a product image or showcase for a famous brand (Paco Rabanne, YSL Beauty, Perrier-Jouët,). Thus in 2015 Montblanc associated its name with Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, entrusting him with the architectural plans of the company’s 500 boutiques worldwide. His unique approach has led him to conceive exceptional objects that have been presented in the Pierre Berger gallery in Brussels and the BSL gallery in Paris. He has participated in prestigious events like the AD Interiors exhibition at Paris’ Musée des Arts Decoratifs in 2013 and, more recently, the AD collections exhibition, also in Paris. His creative meanderings have led him to initiate a collaboration with the Neal Feay workshop in the United States and also to work with two royal factories in France: Mobilier National (National Furniture) and the Manufacture de Sevres (ceramics). The latter two endeavors combine his contemporary vision of design with the finely-honed skills of master craftsmen that were used in the 18th century. His approach has been acclaimed by the French and international press and he has received many prizes including NeoCon Silver 2016 for his Modern Family collection for Bernhardt Design, the 2015 Via Label, the 2014 Janus business prize for the Air France Salons, the GQ Best Designer prize in 2012, the prestigious Red Dot prize for Best Product in 2011 and both the Elle Decoration International Design Prize and Wallpaper Design Award in 2009. With his innate fondness for art nouveau, he relies not only on the universal character of nature to impose shapes that make sense but believes that the idea of a total, multidisciplinary art is vital for contemporary creation.