Ligne Roset Outdoor “Ottoman” Love by Noe Duchaufour

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)

With enduring designs like the immensely plush, Pop art–inspired Togo lounge chair and sofa, Ligne Roset has become synonymous with radical luxury furniture. However, when Antoine Roset (1841–93) started the company in 1860 in the small French town of Oussiat, its focus was on wooden umbrella handles.

In 1892, Ligne Roset’s founder expanded with a property in Montagnieu where he set up a wood-processing factory, eventually expanding into manufacturing chairs. After his death, his wife, Marie-Victorine, took over before his son, Emile Roset, began leading the company in the 1910s.

It wasn’t until after World War II that Antoine’s grandson, Jean Roset, would recognize the need for furniture in settings like schools, hospitals and retirement homes and take inspiration from Scandinavian modern design for functional pieces made primarily from affordable beech.

Under Jean, Ligne Roset supplied quite a few European institutions with beautiful wood furnishings. In the 1970s, he shifted the company’s focus again, this time looking to domestic and residential markets. Around this time, Jean’s two sons, Pierre and Michel, joined the company.

Ligne Roset opened its first store in 1973 with one of the most popular collections being designer Michel Ducaroy’s Togo modular sofa and chairs — classics of contemporary French design that look like oversize bent pillows.

After the success of this initial designer collaboration, Ligne Roset brought on more guest designers over the following decades, including Didier Gomez, Pascal Mourgue, Peter Maly, Pierre Paulin, Inga Sempé and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. Paulin’s Elysée sofa and Pumpkin chair — designed in 1971 for Elysée Palace — are among the brand’s most popular pieces. In 1975, the company introduced its Cinna brand, known to collectors for the Sandra sofa designed by Annie Hiéronimus and other alluring seating.

Ligne Roset continues to be run by the Roset family who works on revolutionary furniture in partnership with a variety of collaborators. It has operated in Briord since 1973 where it produces its iconically sleek and innovative pieces.

Find new and vintage Ligne Roset sofas, lounge chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.