Matali Crasset: Works

This first monograph dedicated to Matali Crasset retraces the last twenty years of the career of one of the most renowned creators of international design. From objects to architecture, Matali Crasset's work questions, in the manner of a sociologist, the role of design in daily life and redefines modes of use, lifestyles and human interactions.

After graduating from the Ateliers-ENSCI in 1991, Matali Crasset maintained an interest in new technologies from her time with Italian designer Denis Santachiara. Upon her return to Paris, she developed this electronic design experience when she collaborated for five years with Philippe Starck, becoming responsible for Tim Thom, the integrated design structure of the Thomson Multimedia company; and in 1996, when the VIA gave her free rein for her W at Hôm domestic IT furniture project.

Her home-studio, which she set up in 1998 in Belleville in the middle of some small gardens at a former printing house, is conducive to reflection and research. There she creates often transformable objects, offering original solutions which are praised by critics for their functional, poetic, imaginative and recreational character. Among the countless achievements, we can cite: the hospitality column "When Jim Goes Up to Paris" and the play area sofa for Domeau & Pérès; the metal structures and removable Table Trays & Shelves for Aiki; the "Ierace" pendant light for Artemide; the "Evolute" suspension for Danese; "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" light fittings for Meta/Mallett; the “furnished” space "Open Room No. 1" for Established & Sons; the "Chambre d'ami" for Campeggi; the "Essentiels de pêtisserie" utensils collection for Alessi. Matali Crasset's projects follow one another and branch out through meetings. She works with actors as distinct as the hotelier who wants to develop a new concept (Hi hotels in Paris and Nice or Dar Hi in Nefta in Tunisia), the museum which wishes to transform itself (SM's in s'Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands), or the Department of Cultural Affairs of Burgundy which wants to place contemporary chandeliers in the Saint-Bénigne cathedral in Dijon.

In exhibitions, Matali Crasset finds a space for reflection and experimentation different from industrial design and makes the most of opportunities to collaborate with other artists, notably Peter Halley with “Nature morte à habiter” at the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery where she exhibits regularly. She creates numerous scenographies for private companies such as Hermès or Première Vision, or for institutions, such as the Mobilier national, the Biennale de Saint-Étienne or the Salon de Montrouge.

• 24 x 28 cm
• 300 pages
• 700 color illustrations
• bound under dust jacket
• ISBN: 978-2-9155-4545-5

Text in French only