Montblanc 139

Not wishing to simply produce or be rational about a product, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance prefers that each of his projects has its own unique scenario, nourished without distinction between uses, forms, materials or aesthetics. For him, curves and straight lines, sensuality and strictness interact in confrontations that are conducive to create meaning and awaken our senses. Through his desire to breathe life into both the objects and spaces he designs, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance views each project as an organic form that will grow over time with its user, almost like a natural element that can challenge human order or disorder.

Originally, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance was a sculptor, preoccupied with each work he created by a story and intimate link with nature that he felt the need to retranscribe by using his hands. But soon the IDEA of stirring emotions in others by creating useful forms became an evident path for someone who loves the beautiful as much as the functional and harmony as much as social responsibility. So he turned to design.

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance often compares his approach to tsubo niwa, the tiny garden at the center of a traditional Japanese house. Like an organic pulse in a profession dedicated to meeting the demands of an industry, a market or a specific client, he is as ready to design objects with inspired lines for manufacturers (Bernhardt Design, Ceccotti Collezioni, Cinna, Ligne Roset, La Chance, Petite Friture, Tacchini, Zanotta) as he is to imagine harmonious living areas (Senderens, Air France Lounges, Ciel de Paris, Meurice Oenotheque, Chalet La Transhumance, #Cloud Paris lounge) or even to define a product image or showcase for a famous brand (Paco Rabanne, YSL Beauty, Perrier-Jouët).

Thus in 2015 Montblanc associated its name with Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, entrusting him with the architectural plans of the company’s 500 boutiques worldwide.

His unique approach has led him to conceive exceptional objects that have been presented in the Pierre Bergere Gallery in Brussels and the BSL gallery in Paris. He has participated in prestigious events like the AD Interiors exhibition at Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris in 2013 and more recently, the AD collections exhibition, also in Paris.

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s creative meanderings have led him to initiate a collaboration with the Neal Feay workshop in the United States and also to work with two royal factories in France: Mobilier National (National Furniture) and the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (ceramics). The latter two endeavors combine his contemporary vision of design with the finely honed skills of master craftsmen that were used in the 18th century.

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s approach has been acclaimed by the French and international press and he has received many prizes including NeoCon Silver 2016 for his Modern Family collection for Bernhardt Design, the 2015 Via Label, the 2014 Janus business prize for the Air France Salons, the GQ Best Designer prize in 2012, the prestigious Red Dot prize for Best Product in 2011 and both the Elle Decoration International Design Prize and Wallpaper* Design Award in 2009.

With his innate fondness for Art Nouveau, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance relies not only on the universal character of nature to impose shapes that make sense but believes that the idea of a total, multidisciplinary art is vital for contemporary creation.

(Biography provided by Galerie Philia)

Organic modern furniture is characterized by clean lines, an overall uncomplicated aesthetic and a prioritizing of natural, sustainable materials, such as wood and stone. There are lots of earth tones and natural-world textures rather than bright color palettes or fabrics embellished with busy patterns.

Organic furniture is minimalist and, owing to the ideas of venerable architect Frank Lloyd Wright, designed for warm spaces that promote harmony between human habitation and the great outdoors. Organic modern design, including in furniture and architecture, emerged in the 1930s.

Designers such as Andrianna Shamaris, Alguacil & Perkoff and Jörg Pietschmann — all known for organic modern design — have created furniture that brings dynamic and unpredictable energy to home interiors while emphasizing the importance of a relationship with the natural world.

Striking an appealing balance between our living spaces and nature doesn't have to be an arduous task — the broad selection of original organic modern furniture on 1stDibs includes solid wood tables, bamboo seating options, hand-knotted wall tapestries and more.

As a practical focal point in your living area, antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables are an invaluable addition to any interior.

Low tables that were initially used as tea tables or coffee tables have been around since at least the mid- to late-1800s. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. In the United States, furniture makers worked to introduce low, long tables into their offerings as the popularity of coffee and “coffee breaks” took hold during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

It didn’t take long for coffee tables and cocktail tables to become a design staple and for consumers to recognize their role in entertaining no matter what beverages were being served. Originally, these tables were as simple as they are practical — as high as your sofa and made primarily of wood. In recent years, however, metal, glass and plastics have become popular in coffee tables and cocktail tables, and design hasn’t been restricted to the conventional low profile, either.

Visionary craftspeople such as Paul Evans introduced bold, geometric designs that challenge the traditional idea of what a coffee table can be. The elongated rectangles and wide boxy forms of Evans’s desirable Cityscape coffee table, for example, will meet your needs but undoubtedly prove imposing in your living space.

If you’re shopping for an older coffee table to bring into your home — be it an antique Georgian-style coffee table made of mahogany or walnut with decorative inlays or a classic square mid-century modern piece comprised of rosewood designed by the likes of Ettore Sottsass — there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Both the table itself and what you put on it should align with the overall design of the room, not just by what you think looks fashionable in isolation. According to interior designer Tamara Eaton, the material of your vintage coffee table is something you need to consider. “With a glass coffee table, you also have to think about the surface underneath, like the rug or floor,” she says. “With wood and stone tables, you think about what’s on top.”

Find the perfect centerpiece for any room, no matter what your personal furniture style on 1stDibs — shop Art Deco coffee tables, travertine coffee tables and other antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables today.