"The Crazy History of Design" collection unveiled at the Museum of Decorative Arts

From Le Corbusier's kitchen to digital creations that mix furniture, fashion, and decoration: Paris inaugurates one of the most important spaces dedicated to design in the world.

The Museum of Decorative Arts (MAD) unveiled today "the Crazy History of Design", a permanent collection that creates a dialogue between design, graphics, fashion and photography in a 2,100 square meters space in one of the wings of the Louvre Palace - mainly in the Pavilion of Marsan.

"This is a new way to showcase design by challenging a purely chronological journey that didn’t seem to make much sense," Olivier Gabet, director of the MAD, told AFP. He hopes to see a "poetic and sensitive meeting between the world of design and visitors”.

The visit begins with an innovative creation room, inside which stands a table made using movie software by Dutch artist Joris Laarman that simulates a mid-flight flock of birds; next to it, a futuristic outfit made through the same process.

"The artist produced the table with a 3D printer. These are things that seem simple but this piece would be impossible to create with other methods", the chief curator of the modern and contemporary department of the MAD, Dominique Forest, told AFP.

Fashion has also taken hold with the Dutch Iris Van Herpen, whose 3D printed polyamide bodice simulates waves around a submerged body is presented next to a leather skirt adorned with acrylic fringes.

Design for all

A space dedicated to the French Philippe Starck "who popularized the design and gave it an international aura" and the endless list of things that interested him, including a bath, a watch, glasses, and models of boats.

The iconic transparent chair of Louis Ghost is there, but also lesser known pieces like a briefcase made for the website 3Suisses, containing plans and photos to build a house.

"The beautiful at the price of ugly": in the late 1950s, the democratization of the world of furniture and clothing came thanks to Prisunic stores (which has since been bought by Monoprix) who called on designers for their creative input while simultaneously pioneering mail order sales.

Internationally, Japan has Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garçons who - besides clothing - created a line of furniture in the 1980s, while Italy is famous for its powerful 1950s industrial design.

Visitors can discover the layout of a room designed by Jean Prouvé for the campus of Jean Zay university in Antony, France in 1955, or the kitchen of Le Corbusier made by Charlotte Perriand in 1952 for the radiant city of Marseille.

"Storage is a priority (...) and must be resolutely industrialized," she said. These ideas are usually taken up in the kitchen: sliding doors and contact of the hostess with her guests thanks to the kitchen-bar being integrated into the living room.

A dedicated section retraces the evolution of the chair with about 60 achievements that can be seen in its development. Thanks to Normal Studio’s setting that has "undressed spaces" and open-plan windows, visitors also benefit from the added bonus of a spectacular view of the gardens of the Tuilerie with la Défense in plain site and a view over the roofs of Paris of the Basilica in the distance. (AFP)

Photo credit: Facebook - The Museum of Decorative Art, Paris