Aurélien Barbry

Background

Aurélien Barbry is a French designer, born in Paris and trained at the Camondo school, from which he graduated in industrial and interior design in 1997. He joined the design department of Jean Nouvel's studio, where he worked on industrial design and design integrated into architecture, including the restaurant of the Quai Branly Museum. He later moved to Copenhagen and founded his own design studio.

Signature Style

Barbry follows a functional, minimalist approach with simple organic forms and is deeply influenced by Scandinavian design. His designs move objects towards simplicity and obviousness, inviting dialogue and interaction with the end user. In his own words, design is an exercise of taking the simplest things in daily life and asking how they could be done differently.

Notable Works

For Fritz Hansen's Skagerak collection he designed the Cadence outdoor series, characterised by simplicity and functional beauty. For Le Klint he designed the Caché lamp series (2014), whose hand-folded shade is almost hidden, and the bell-shaped La Cloche, his first product for the company. He is also credited with the Meringue furniture line for Pierre Frey, and his clients include Georg Jensen, COR, Menu, Normann Copenhagen, ENO and HAY.

Legacy

Barbry's career runs from Jean Nouvel's studio to his own design studio in Copenhagen. Cadence is part of the Skagerak collection at Fritz Hansen.