Patrick Norguet

Background

Patrick Norguet is a French designer, born in Tours on 15 June 1969. After a vocational diploma in industrial drawing he moved into production engineering and graduated from the École supérieure de design industriel (ESDI). From 1997 to 1999 he worked with Louis Vuitton on shop windows and trade-show sets, a start in fashion that Flexform's designer page says taught him how a brand's identity is built and shown.

Signature Style

Wikipedia describes his work as marked by a pared-down line and what the French text calls invisible technology. He draws on factories, workshops and the materials craftspeople use, and holds that design should stay industrial, answering the needs of companies and sustainability while still giving observers something of a dream. Flexform adds that he adapted his style to skilled artisan craftsmanship while keeping production efficient.

Notable Works

• The Rainbow Chair, which Wikipedia calls a turning point in his career, shown at the Miami museum of modern art in a 2004 Cappellini exhibition
• Shop windows and stagings for Guerlain, Lanvin, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Lancel, and the 2004 renovation of the Renault showroom on Boulevard Raspail
• For Flexform, the Ozzy family of armchair, dining chair and ottoman, and the Kobo tables

Legacy

Norguet received the Grand Prix du Design de la Ville de Paris in 2005 and was named the NOW designer of the year title in Paris that year. Wallpaper named him designer of the year in 2009, and France made him a chevalier of its order of arts and letters in 2015. Flexform calls him a key figure in French design who masters all types of design.