kartell goes bourgie in paris to celebrate 10 years of ferruccio laviani's table lamp

kartell goes bourgie in paris to celebrate 10 years of ferruccio laviani’s lamp
all images courtesy kartell

for the 10th anniversary of ferruccio laviani’s ‘bourgie’ table lamp, kartell has invited all the designers on their team to re-interpret one of the italian lighting company’s best selling piece in several provocative variations. for the occasion of maison&objet 2014, the kartell flagship store on saint germain boulvard in paris has been transformed to create an evocative installation of the 14 interpretations of bourgie by patricia urquiola, piero lissoni, front, mario bellini, alberto meda, lenny kravitz, philippe starck, eugeni quitllet, christophe pillet, nendo, tokujiin yoshioka, patrick jouin, ludovica+roberto palomba and rodolfo dordoni.

originally introduced by kartell in 2004, the polycarbonate ‘bourgie lamp’ by ferruccio laviani has been completely re-imagined with a series of alternate designs, each boasting its own unique flair. from being ironically interpreted by decorative costume jewelry and typical french symbols like the eiffel tower to white rice paper and wrought iron, the milestone event brings together a slew of extravagant ideas and various design approaches in a temporary exhibition.

‘I have always supported and promoted the “remix” concept to explain that what I create is something that already exists but becomes something else through my re-vision of reality, my re-interpretation of things,’ explains ferruccio laviani. ‘from bjork to madonna, from the U2 to the daft punk, many others have themselves been remixed by other artists often creating incredible tracks that are diametrically opposed to the original and often even better. I am honored and flattered that some of the most influential contemporary designers offered to remix an object of mine and i admit that their complete willingness actually even embarrassed me.’ he adds

the ‘bourgie’ table lamp by ferruccio laviani celebrates 10 years in production in paris during maison et objet

the kartell flagship store in paris has been transformed to create an evocative installation of the 14 ‘bourgie’ interpretations

‘bourgie’ by philippe starck

‘trainer dans les endroits ou l’on vend des bracelets “cheap”. puces, tout pour rien, échoppes, trottoirs…acheter tous les genres de bracelets (si possible élastiques) plastique, caoutchouc, métal spirale, … tissu, fils et boules de plastique ou verre, gourmettes dorées de rappeur, avec et sans breloques… tout ce qui est drôle, coloré, rutilant, divers comme la vie (des autres) puis les enfiler bordéliquement sur la lampe.’ – philippe starck

‘eigruob’ by nendo

‘for our contribution, we decided to work with two of the lamp’s most distinctive characteristics – its use of silhouettes and its transparency – rather than touching the original design itself. we created a new table lamp by inverting and rotating the bourgie lamp’s silhouette, so that when two of the new lamps are lined up together, the space between them forms the upside-down silhouette of the bourgie lamp. because our homage inverts both the lamp’s figureground relationship and our regular sense of up and down, we named the lamp ‘eigruob’. – oki sato (nendo)

‘bourgie’ by ludovica+roberto palomba

‘our bourgie is a tribute to ferruccio, to the pen sketch that generated the shape of the object. that iron wire that we imagined thus became our design, the watershed between the idea and the design brought into being.’ – ludovica+roberto palomba

‘bourgie’ by eugeni quitllet

‘bourgie is a gift in the form of an imaginary cake … after surprising and exciting the world for 10 years, it is time to light the 10 candles for its birthday and make a wish! happy bourgie to you!’ – eugeni quitllet

detail of the 10 candles

‘bourgie’ by piero lissoni

‘my inspiration came from a documentary on fellini who asked his set designer to build him a big city made of paper. and that is how I saw the bourgie: big and made of paper.’ – piero lissoni