AZURE 2015-03-04

IdentIkIt
Margaux
keller
Can an object tell a story? This French
designer believes the products we live with
can summon memories from the past
BY Léa-Catherine SzaCka
→ Released by Roche Bobois
in 2014, Les Pes cadous
glass vases are topped with
colourful fishing floats.
↘ Canasson, for SOCA
of France, invites sitters to
straddle its rounded oak
seat or perch sidesaddle.
↓ The three- legged
Stampella functions as a
stool or a side table – solo
against a wall, or matched
to form a round surface.
born Geneva, Switzerland, 1987
location Marseilles, France
education BTS certificate in product
design, ENSAAMA, Paris; master’s in
product and furniture design, École Boulle,
Paris; residency at Fabrica, Benetton
Group, Treviso, Italy
occupation Furniture, product and
interior designer
Selected awards 2014 Finalist, Grand
Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris
Selected exhibits 2014 Maison & Objet,
Paris; 2013 Maïza Editions, Ventura
Lambrate, Milan; 2012 Salon de l’Habitat,
Strasbourg, France; 2011 Assemblages,
Plus Design Gallery, Milan
Selected clients CFOC, Habitat, Maïza
Editions, La Redoute, Roche Bobois, SOCA,
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté
Where it all began i have always been creative:
i started painting and drawing lessons at five.
During my youth in marseilles, i used my bedroom
as a place of experimentation, constantly moving
furniture around and painting on the walls. it drove
my mother crazy! Then, one day, i heard the word
“designer.” i immediately thought it sounded great
and decided i wanted to become one. When i
turned 18, i moved to paris, first to do a bachelor’s in
product design at the École nationale Supérieure
des arts appliqués et des métiers d’art, olivier de
Serres. Later on, i studied product and furniture
design at the École Boulle, a school for crafts and
applied arts. afterward i did an intern ship with
philippe Starck and worked directly with catalan
furniture designer eugeni Quitllet.
in 2011, i decided to start my own studio in
mar seilles rather than in paris. i wanted to be under
the sun, not the rain. people are often surprised
when they learn that i live here. Then they remember
me as that designer from marseilles, so it can be
an advantage. paris is just three hours away by
high-speed train, close enough that i’m able to visit
clients there anytime.
a tipping point after my experience working
in Starck’s studio, i was selected for a residency
at Fabrica in Treviso, italy. i spent a year there,
surrounded by people from all over the world.
it was a turning point: i extended my professional
network, and i worked with, among others, Sam
Baron, who became a mentor and really influenced
my way of working.
Summoning the paSt Simple forms and pure
materials – glass, wood, porcelain – are very
important to me. all of my projects are about going
straight to the story i want to tell without adding
any useless decoration. When i teach, i tell my
students that beyond function and aesthetics they
should bring a third dimension to an object: a story.
You want to evoke emotions; you want people to
react and maybe remember something from their
childhood. For example, one of my latest projects,
Les pescadous, is a collection of glass vases that
uses fishing floats as stoppers. They’re directly
inspired by the sea and the South of France, where
i live. For many people, they play like une madeleine
de Proust, reminding them of their childhoods.
42 mar ⁄ apr 2015 azuremagazine.com