As part of Philippe Starck’s recent commission to refurbish Paris’ Royal Monceau Hotel, the designer created an anthropomorphic armchair lovingly named after his friend, Lou Reed, who he met in the hotel 15 years ago. “This project,” Starck says, “is a reminder that it is far better to spend time in conversation or reading activities than in front of the TV or computer.”
Each room at the hotel will be furnished with a Lou Reed chair, though its ability to convey Starck’s personal preference for reading or talking while seated in it is questionable. Still, whether you use it to watch TV or look out the window, the chair’s design definitely merits some discussion. Outfitted in gorgeous leather stretched over a fiberglass frame, it has been compared to mid-century Danish design, but is it just me or does it look a whole lot more like the sculpture in Tim Burton’s 1988 classic Beetlejuice? Remember the scene where Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis animate the objects in the house and one of Catherine O’Hara’s sculptures comes to life and wraps its ‘arms’ around her?
If that doesn’t ring a bell you’ll just have to take my word for it, but the Lou Reed looks like a throne Burton would be proud to have in his own home, and all movie references aside, it’s a great looking piece of furniture that’s right in line with the rest of Starck’s playful repertoire.
designer: philippe starck
