Maison & Objet 2012, Paris

last updated 12 September 2022

Cutback culture may be dominating the pages of newspapers, but behind the doors of the exhibition halls of the Parc des Expositions in Paris Nord Villepinte, and the galleries flanking the Seine, fresh new product design from old and new sources was flourishing last weekend at Maison & Objet (opens in new tab).

Admittedly, economy and accessibility could be seen to be playing a role in some of the newer offerings. Established designers and design houses appear to be looking to small but perfectly formed product to shore up business.

Tom Dixon (opens in new tab) previewed his new range Eclectic (due to launch in August), featuring accessories and tabletop pieces in his signature materials of copper, glass and wood, while Belgium's Alain Berteau (opens in new tab) launched a company, Objekten (opens in new tab), that focuses on simple, well-crafted, everyday products.

Denmark's Hay (opens in new tab), meanwhile, presented a stand that was pure candy to design-tuned eyes seeking beauty in the quotidien and mundane - a vast collection of brightly coloured stationary, wooden trays and tools for grooming, laundry, cooking and working.

Also new to the Maison scene and chiming with the mood for accessibility was Ghent-based Labt (opens in new tab), a design house showcasing furniture designed by Belgian architects and graphic designers and using plywood for the most part, to great effect.

This being France, there was plenty of Gallic talent on show. We viewed the well-established Sentou (opens in new tab) with fresh eyes, its stand an alluring riot of colourful shelving and tables (by the in-house team) and pieces from a new favourite, the Paris-based daughter of design dynasty the Hansen Family, Gesa Hansen (opens in new tab).

Twenty-year-old lighting company Forestier (opens in new tab) reinvented and relaunched itself with ENO co-founder Jean-Dominique Leze at the creative helm, and dazzled with a range of sculptural lighting from an impressive roll call of designers including Arik Levy (opens in new tab), Sebastian Bergne (opens in new tab), Ionna Vautrin (opens in new tab), and Laurence Brabant (opens in new tab).

Brand new maison d'edition Marcel By (opens in new tab) introduced itself with mirrors, shelving and chairs from founders Stephan Lanez (opens in new tab), Samuel Accoceberry (opens in new tab), Noé Duchaufour Lawrances (opens in new tab) and Jakob + MacFarlane (opens in new tab). Tolix (opens in new tab) sustained its recent reinvention with a new desk and shelving system from Sebastian Bergne and free-standing shelves from Normal Studio (opens in new tab) - as did cabinet company Drugeot Labo (opens in new tab), whose wooden shelving units become ever more colourful and inventive.

Maison stalwart Ligne Roset (opens in new tab) presented an impressive stand brimming with newly produced pieces by the older guard - Pierre Paulin (opens in new tab) (reissues from his Elysée Palace designs of the 1970s), Jean Nouvel (opens in new tab)and Pierre Charpin (opens in new tab) - and brilliant fresh talent in the form of Japanese designer Yota Kakuda (opens in new tab) and young French collective Numéro 111 (opens in new tab).

Italian design house Gervasoni chose Maison as its platform to introduce a new offshoot with a focus on the bedroom. The Letti & Co collection launched with five fabric-finished bed designs by Paola Navone. Fellow Italians Alessi, meanwhile, chose Maison as the European launch pad for their meta-collection of trays, (Un)Forbidden City, designed by Chinese architects.

Out in town, no fewer than two galleries - the recently established Carpenters Workshop (opens in new tab) and the Pierre-Alain Challier (opens in new tab) - helped Nendo (opens in new tab) celebrate its tenth anniversary with stunning new collections of work. Tools Galerie (opens in new tab) put a focus on wood used in unusual ways to build furniture, featuring original work from Elisa Strozyk (opens in new tab), David Graas (opens in new tab), Peter Marigold (opens in new tab) and Glass Hill (opens in new tab), and Galerie S. Bensimon (opens in new tab) showcased an inspiring collection of works by young American designer Max Lipsey (opens in new tab), Rotterdam-based Lex Pott (opens in new tab) and David Derksen (opens in new tab), and London-based Pia Wüstenberg (opens in new tab).

Tripping round the streets of Paris in search of fresh design is never a chore - even the Parc des Expositions has Fauchon (opens in new tab) and Ladurée (opens in new tab) pitstops to revive fair-worn legs - but it's all the more valuable when you can return replenished not only with macaroons and éclairs, but with a fund of inspiring new design swimming around in your head, as we did on Monday.

Two side by side connected wooden tower structures.

Split Slatted Shelving unit by Peter Marigold at the Knock on Wood exhibition, Toolsgalerie

A white rock-shape/paper-style lamp shade hanging from above.

Miss Maple, by Elisa Strozyk at the Knock on Wood exhibition, Toolsgalerie

Five octagonal multi-coloured holders, with one storing cooking utensils.

Knife Pots by Normann Copenhagen

Three jugs with large barrels style bases. One in red, one in brown and black, one in dark brown and brown.

Geo Thermos jugs at Normann Copenhagen

A close-up of a large fan-shaped storage container with white and pink illumination.

Stationery by Hay

Trays by Hay

A selection of various sided note books in different colours.

Stationery by Hay

Under neon colour lighting, a table with various objects that look like a saucepan, a rolling pin, a nut, a bolt, bowls.

Pieces at Blanc Bijou for Nikki Fron

A small and large cube in dark colour under a neon light.

Pieces at Blanc Bijou for Nikki Fron

A double bed with a red and white checkered base and headboard, green linen, a red and white cube poof with a tray on top and a I Heart NY mug.

Bed by Paola Navone for Lettti & Co

A double bed with dark green frame, white linen, dark green throw.

Bed by Paola Navone for Lettti & Co

Two columns of wood chairs with no arms.

Chairs by Alki

Two yellow containers. One in a cup shape and one in a basket shape.

New pieces at Sfera

Ten spatulas of different shapes and sizes in black, brown and beige.

New pieces at Sfera

Three containers in three different shapes, one tall and slim, one round and one hexagonal.

New pieces at Sfera

A white and black vase, both with an odd shape and red interior.

'Aldo' vases by Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas for Alessi

A wall display featuring information and a portrait photo with a collection of pencils.

Pencil Display by Elise Gabriel for Atelier d'Exercices

A wall display featuring text behind a thermometer style monetary scale.

Central Bank for Atelier d'Exercices

Chateau Baccarat, new collection of crystal glasses from Baccarat designed to enhance the drinking experience

Three sets of triangle shaped stools stacked on top of each other.

Stools from the Acciaio Series by Max Lipsey at the Gallery S Bensimon

Side by side stacking vessels - left has green tinted glass and right has clear glass.

Stacking Vessels by Pia Wüstenberg at the Gallery S Bensimon

Three cheeses resting on a cheese box lid with the wooden box behind.

Cheese box by Stephane Bureaux at the 'Cheeeeese!' Exhibition in Hall 3

A circular cheese board with three cheeses in front of a multi levelled circular storage device.

Cheese platter by Claudio Colucci at the 'Cheeeeese!' Exhibition in Hall 3

A black box containing cheese with information boards behind.

Cheese box by Germain Bourre at the 'Cheeeeese!' Exhibition in Hall 3

Nest Centrepiece and bowls by Stéphane Parmentier for Christofle

A variety of ceramics in different shapes.

Ceramics by Christiane Perrochon

A wall with two rows of small mirrors of various oval shapes.

Moonlight Mirrors by Richard Hutten at Covo

A wall with shelf fittings interconnected.

Shelving by Drugeot Labo

'Eclectic' Hex Champagne Bucket by Tom Dixon

Rectangular, paddle long and circular chop board and bowl set.

'Eclectic' Chop (Rectangle, Paddle, Long) and Form Bowl Set, by Tom Dixon

A wood stool made up of wood box sides and top.

Dolmen stool by Sebastien Cordoleani for ENO

Five wood shelves from the floor and up.

Quake by Antoine Phelouzat for ENO

Multiple wire-framed multi-sided candle holders on a table and hanging from above.

Lamps by Arik Levy for Forestier

Lamps by Arik Levy for Forestier

Two black loungers with hoods at the head.

Loungers by Ipe Cavalli

A metal structured chair with a red cushion square base and a red cylinder back.

The Shiro Kuramata exhibtion at Cappellini

A black square table with a tortoiseshell arch on top.

The Shiro Kuramata exhibtion at Cappellini

A selection of three wooden storage boxes. Left and Right, the boxes are on wheels. Centre. A tower of wooden boxes are standing on top of each other.

Cabinets by Jan en Randoald for Labt

Table by JIJ's for Labt

Two dark wood stools with black tops. A lamp sat on the right stool.

Mortaise tables and stools by Yota Kakuda for Ligne Roset

Dérive 2 by Pierre Paulin for Ligne Roset

Olive Lamps by Numéro 111 for Ligne Roset

Pool Coffee Table by Jakob Macfarlane for Marcel By

Two light-wood chairs, one with no arms and one with arms.

Bamby Chair by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance for Marcel By

Multiple crystal pieces in different colours and shapes.

Crystal pieces by Moser

A grey slab on a side table, with a lamp shade in the shape of a odd balloon.

Plan Vase by Sebastien Cordoleani for Moustache

Three grey vessels in different shape with the opening going from large to small.

Vessels by Ionna Vautrin for Moustache

Bins by Muuto

Dozens of clear oval lampshades handing from the ceiling.

Static Bubbles exhibition by Nendo at the Carpenters Workshop gallery

Single, double, triple stacked (L-R) baskets.

Static Bubbles exhibtion by Nendo at the Carpenters Workshop gallery

A white table resting on a side table. Black background. Two books, bottle and cup on the white table.

Object Dependency exhibtion by Nendo at Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

A white table connected with a lower level to another section.

Object Dependency exhibtion by Nendo at Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

Object Dependency exhibtion by Nendo at Galerie Pierre-Alain Challier

Dark brown rings for storing offie accessories.

Office accessories by Objekten

A square wood tray with two columns for business cards. A white stand with an arm.

Trays and light by Objekten

On display, a metal backed chair with four legs.

Soba Chair by Dunja Weber for PCM

Two side by side three shelf wall fittings. Left: Four glasses on the shelves. Right. Two containers of Illy coffee on the bottom shelf.

Wall shelves by Kay Stemmer for SCP

A red park bench with decorative crockery.

Table and bench for SCP

A rectangular tray with individually segmented sections next to each other.

'Jane' tray by Liu Jiakun as part of Alessi's Unforbidden City collection of trays

A wood vertical structure with four quotation mark shaped segments at equal intervals from bottom to top.

'Floating Earth' by Ma Yan Song as part of Alessi's Unforbidden City collection of trays

A wood shaped tower with a pyramid shape and a hanging light bulb from the top.

Everything but the manual furniture kit by David Grass at the Knock on Wood exhibition, Toolsgalerie

A brown wood desk with four compartments under an upper level.

Desk by Gesa Hansen for Sentou

A wall with three upper wood structures and connecting shelves. Objects on the shelves include a lamp, books,.

Utu shelves by O Creation for Sentou

Five multi-coloured shelves, two containing CD cases.

Shelves at Sentou

Two dark blue glasses and one clear glass alongside and blue water jug.

Glassware by Christian Haas for Theresienthal

Five glassware pieces of different shapes and sizes.

Glassware at Theresienthal

Shelves by Tolix

Shelves by Tolix

Red, blue and black circular objects with holes in the middle.

Centrepieces by Victoria Wilmotte, in the Young Talents exhibition, Hall 7

TOPICS

Maison et Objet