Clouded house: Shanghai furniture brand Maison Dada dreams big in Paris

Dada transformed nonsense into an art. Sticking a urinal in a museum, making poetry out of grunts, banging a kettledrum and calling the sound a symphony; these were the kinds of absurdist gestures that defined the movement. Life, Dada said, was just one big joke, so why not have fun with it?

Well, Maison Dada is certainly having fun, and making it look good too. The Shanghai-based brand is the brainchild of Thomas Dariel and Delphine Moreau, two French natives who wanted ’to inject a dose of Dadaism into everyday life’. Established in 2015, Maison Dada has just released a line of furniture, lighting, rugs and accessories for the first time in Europe, presented at Maison et Objet. The pieces they have debuted are more living room appropriate than Duchamp’s Fountain, but certainly no less compelling.

’Yin & Yang’ chest of drawers; and ’Japanese Abstractions n°2’ rug

Maison Dada’s collection uses simple geometric shapes to create bold, whimsical designs. Most of the furniture is made from ash wood and upholstered in leather, while the rugs are a combination of wool and silk, and accessories are metal. Decked out in fluorescent and pastel colour palettes, the finished pieces sit like costume jewellery within an interior.

This buoyant aesthetic is, however, paired with a serious message. ’Maison Dada’s first collection is a reflection of [freedom]. Of an unrestrained imagination that brings life into objects,’ says Dariel. ’I don’t want un-animated furniture. I like them to have a soul, to tell a story.’