Often described as unusual and daring – and emblematic of change – the diverse work by French designer Matali Crasset provides interpretations that question the authority of traditional codes in which we are subject to. With intent to challenge the way we go about our daily lives, she has actively designed new approaches for mass-manufactured furniture, electronic products, graphic communications, architecture and interiors. In addition to having her creations archived as part of many museum and art collections throughout the world, Crasset was highlighted at (Switzerland) Musee de Design et D’arts Appliques Contemporains’ retrospective of her work from 1991 – 2002.
Born into a farming family in the village of Normée, near Châlons-en-Champagne, Crasset first discovered design while studying marketing at Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris and immediately changed courses. After graduating in 1991 she worked for the Denis Santachiara in Milan. In 1993 she returned to Paris under five years of guidance from Philippe Starck. Prior to establishing her own studio in 1998, she also worked for Thomson Multimedia Electronics Group.
Since the 1990s, she has followed a trajectory that researches conception based on perpetual hypothesis, rather than rigid principles. Her proposals are never towards a simple improvement of what already exists, but instead, endeavor to create typologies structured around ideas such as modularity and the attitudes of an interacting network. Crasset defines her search as an accompaniment towards the contemporary.
Among the awards conferred to her name include, Baden-Wurttemburg International Design Award 2002, 2004 International Designer of the Year from British Interior Design Awards, and Prix du createur de lannee (designer of the year) from salon du meuble de Paris. Always in search of new frontiers, she collaborates with a surprisingly broad range of communities and individuals, from crafts to electronic music, from the textiles industry to fair trade, realising projects in set design, furniture, architecture, graphics and collaborations with artists. Noteworthy projects include the experimental Hi Hotel in Nice; the Phytolab bathroom; furnishings for Established & Sons; Stedelijk Museum in s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; and others.
