Pierre Paulin began designing for Artifort in 1958 and the partnership ran for roughly half a century.
His method never changed: a steel tube frame, foam over it, stretch fabric over that. Removing the visible wooden leg let him treat a chair as one continuous shape — which is why the results read as sculpture before they read as furniture. The Orange Slice arrived in 1960, the Ribbon Chair in 1966.
Paulin was later commissioned to design interiors at the Élysée Palace for presidents Pompidou and Mitterrand. The Artifort pieces are still made to the original patterns.
Left, a room of them in the original orange. Right, two in grey. A steel tube frame, foam over it, stretch fabric over that.
Pierre Paulin began designing for Artifort in 1958, and the partnership ran for roughly half a century.
His method was consistent: a steel tube frame, foam over it, stretch fabric over that. Removing the visible wooden leg let him treat a chair as a single continuous shape, which is why the results read as sculpture before they read as furniture. The Orange Slice arrived in 1960, the Mushroom in 1959, the Ribbon Chair in 1966 and the Tongue in 1968.
Paulin was later commissioned to design interiors at the Élysée Palace for presidents Pompidou and Mitterrand, and his Artifort pieces are still made to the original patterns.
A Dutch upholstery house since 1890, Artifort gave Pierre Paulin's sculptural seating its shape and still makes it.
Jules Wagemans opened an upholstery workshop in Maastricht in 1890; the Artifort name followed in 1928, from the Latin ars and fortis. From 1958 the designer Kho Liang Ie steered the collection and brought in Pierre Paulin.
Paulin's Ribbon and Oyster chairs still define the range, alongside work by Geoffrey Harcourt and, more recently, Khodi Feiz. The seating is built on Epeda springing, which the company credits for its comfort and long life.
