Prague, May 31 (CTK) – French Philippe Starck, 68, one of the most famous contemporary designers, will visit Prague for the first time on Thursday, being invited by an Italian producer of lights and a Czech firm selling his products.
Starck is a versatile artist who has designed almost everything from a toothbrush, through furniture, fashion and lamps to windmills, motorbikes and cars. He is also the author of the torches for the Winter Olympics in French Albertville.
His iconic products include the citrus-squeezer dubbed Juicy Salif, which resembles a spider, from 1990 for Alessi and the Louis Ghost chair (2002) for Kartell in the style of French King Louis XV, but made of transparent polycarbonate.
In the 1970s, Starck won fame with his lamp called Easy Light (1978). It looks like a plain fluorescent tube that can either lie on the floor or be leaned against a wall. At that same time, he designed the interiors of two clubs in Paris.
A few years later, French president Francois Mitterrand asked Starck to design the interiors of the presidential residence in the Elysee Palace in Paris. Later he was offered to create the interiors of the Cafe Costes chain.
Starck has received orders from renowned Italian furniture producers that are the main trendsetters in the world.
He said he considered himself “a Japanese architect, an American art director, a German industrial designer, a French artistic director and an Italian furniture designer.”
