1927-2009

French designer Pierre Paulin was famous for his sensual and bold furniture designs. His unconventional approach to design took him to high places – Paulin was commissioned to furnish the interior of the Élysée Presidential palace for presidents Georges Pompidou and François Mitterrand during the 1970s and early 1980s. Many of Paulin’s original furnishings still adorn the French Presidential palace, and current President Nicholas Sarkozy has even honoured him as ‘the man who made design an art’. Some of Paulin’s renowned chair designs include; the Oyster chair (1954), the Globe chair (1959, and the ever fruitful Orange slice chair (1960).