French architect Patrick Naggar has unveiled 13 new pieces of furniture in a solo exhibition entitled ‘Reflections,’ opened last week at his long-lasting collaborator Ralph Pucci; I was invited to view and review that exhibition at the stunning showroom in the Flatiron district.
Born in Egypt, Naggar who was trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts has made a spectacular career in the 80s and 90s, when creating high-end residences in an interdisciplinary method. In 1987, he famously won the annual House and Garden Design Award for outstanding achievement in residential design along with Frank Gehry, for an interior in Sutton Place, and in 1999, he created the interiors of celebrated Restaurant Daniel’s new location at the former Mayfair Hotel. Both made the headlines, and Naggar won the fame with interior spaces which are chic, timeless, minimal, and identified by soft, warm colors, standing on the line between the modern and the traditional (see below).
Today, Naggar invests the majority of his creative efforts to designing furniture, and his lines are represented exclusively by Pucci. Dont look for his interior sensibility in the furniture, because there is a strong distinction between the two arenas. His pieces bring strong and dramatic statements to any interiors, having an extraordinary sculptural quality, bold color schemes, and are made to be used in the center of rooms. When coming to his furniture, Naggar is passionate about new materials, and he often gives traditional materials a fresh interpretation. His materials range from blown glass, to cast bronze, carbon fiber, concave mirrors; sandwiched metals, lacquer, resin, all looking perfect in the background of the all-brick loft of Pucci.
Born in Egypt, Naggar who was trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts has made a spectacular career in the 80s and 90s, when creating high-end residences in an interdisciplinary method. In 1987, he famously won the annual House and Garden Design Award for outstanding achievement in residential design along with Frank Gehry, for an interior in Sutton Place, and in 1999, he created the interiors of celebrated Restaurant Daniel’s new location at the former Mayfair Hotel. Both made the headlines, and Naggar won the fame with interior spaces which are chic, timeless, minimal, and identified by soft, warm colors, standing on the line between the modern and the traditional (see below).
Today, Naggar invests the majority of his creative efforts to designing furniture, and his lines are represented exclusively by Pucci. Dont look for his interior sensibility in the furniture, because there is a strong distinction between the two arenas. His pieces bring strong and dramatic statements to any interiors, having an extraordinary sculptural quality, bold color schemes, and are made to be used in the center of rooms. When coming to his furniture, Naggar is passionate about new materials, and he often gives traditional materials a fresh interpretation. His materials range from blown glass, to cast bronze, carbon fiber, concave mirrors; sandwiched metals, lacquer, resin, all looking perfect in the background of the all-brick loft of Pucci.
I particularly loved the chaise in green carbon fiber seat and bronze sled base (above); the Murano blown-glass lightings; the Apollo bookcase, which merges narratives, both mythology and spaceship; and the mirror polished Hubble Side Table, which is crafted of concave mirror, allowing an effect of the void. I wish the exhibition did not include Naggar’s outdoor furniture which belongs to a different arena. Thank you, Patrick for the welcoming tour of the show and for illuminating on the process of your thinking and of the complex fabrications.
All photos courtesy Ralph Pucci, by Antoine Bootz.
Seagull Chair
Apollo
Butterfly Cabinet
The Cell Sconce
Apollo
Speed Desk
Cell Suspensions
Manhattan Apartment by Patrick Naggar.
Manhattan Apartment by Patrick Naggar.