Villa Albertine x Mobilier National awarded "Best in Show" at Design Miami/
Villa Albertine and the Mobilier National spotlighted five rising stars of French Design (Atelier George, Atelier d’Offard, Chloé Bensahel, Gala Espel and Dimitri Hlinka) at the 2023 edition of Design Miami/. Curated in a set designed by Alban Roger, their work develops a common language, a search for the golden age of French decorative arts through a contemporary lens. Between traditionalism and avant-gardism, each project is rooted in a reinvented artisanal technique, blending organic shapes and futuristic lines and curves. Each featured designer has also recently taken part in Villa Albertine’s residency program in New York, supported by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. The program enables creators from around the world to embed in an American city of their choice for a custom-designed research project that engages with key questions facing society today. The booth is the recipient of the 2023 Design Miami/ “Best Special Project Award.”
ATELIER D’ORFFARD envisions an immersive space as an ideal for minimalist living, using his signature materials of washi paper and the innovative and ecofriendly papier-mâché́.
ATELIER GEORGE presents “Solar Suspension” composed of an opaline white glass globe, and three veined color glass planets – a work of interpretation inspired by the celestial world.
GALA ESPEL is a silversmith, and her series “Archaeology of the Future” is an exploration ofthe fossil and organic world, combining craftsmanship and technology for a poetic and radical result.
CHLOÉ BENSAHEL invites us to experience a sensory journey through her connected tapestries, mixing textile traditions and digital performance.
DIMITRY HLINKA through his radiator “Amplitude” reimagines an everyday object in a feat of woodworking with abstract lines.
In addition to their activation at Design Miami/, Villa Albertine and Mobilier National offer French designers and craftspeople a wide range of support and opportunities to help strengthen their projects and presence in the US. In so doing, the two institutions work to raise awareness of the exceptional French design and craft industries, and help build collaborations between designers, schools, galleries, and other institutions in on both sides of the Atlantic.
In this spirit of Franco-American cooperation, Villa Albertine and Mobilier National, in partnership with the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, aim to encourage the emergence of a new generation of talent and professionals, while raising awareness of the essential contributions of design and craft to addressing contemporary social challenges.
Alban Roger (set designer)
VILLA ALBERTINE
Villa Albertine is a cultural institution that supports exchanges in arts and ideas between the United States, France, and beyond. With outposts in 10 US cities— Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington, DC— Villa Albertine presents innovative programming nationwide including 50+ customized residencies for international artists, thinkers, and cultural leaders across disciplines each year; a series of cross-cultural dialogues and events; a magazine and podcast; and grants, resources, and incubator programs for professionals in the cultural sphere. Villa Albertine’s craft and design residencies are made possible thanks to the support of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. villa-albertine.org
MOBILIER NATIONAL
Mobilier National’s mission is to ensure the conservation and restoration of its collections resulting of purchases and orders. Back in the time they used to be designed for royal and imperial residences, and today for the official palaces of the French Republic. These collections are made up of more than 130,000 furniture and textile objects. The Mobilier National has seven restoration workshops – tapestry, carpets, upholstery and decorative tapestry, seat carpentry, cabinetmaking and bronzeware. The national factories of Gobelins, Beauvais and La Savonnerie, as well as the lace workshops of Alençon and Le Puy-en-Velay are attached to the administration of the Mobilier National. The institution also has a research and creation workshop – the ARC – to promote creation and contemporary design in official buildings. 600 prototypes from a hundred designers have been produced in over 50 years. The services of the Mobilier National and the national manufactures embody the prestige of French tradition, the excellence of exceptional know-how and the vitality of artistic creation and contemporary design. mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr