When it comes to sweeping gestures in architecture and design, few programs compare to former French President François Mitterrand’s Grands Projets—a 1982 plan developed to provide Paris with modern monuments symbolizing France’s role in art, politics, and the economy. The scheme included eight transformational projects: I.M. Pei’s Louvre Pyramid, Gae Aulenti’s renovation of the Gare d’Orsay into the Musée d’Orsay, and Parc de la Villette by Bernard Tschumi, FAIA, just to name a few. So, it comes as no surprise that Années 80, Mode, design et graphisme en France—a blockbuster exhibition on 1980s design in France at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris—kicked off by examining the cultural impact of Mitterrand’s policies.
Illustrated in the show are more than 700 examples of French design born out of a decade of change and creative eclecticism, all against a Postmodern kaleidoscope. What fascinated me was the transformative power of ’80s design because of governmental commissions, especially the expansion of France’s Valorisation de l’Innovation dans l’Ameublement—a 1979 government initiative created to promote French design by partnering with pioneering galleries. The decade also saw a flurry of galleries and nightclubs commissioning emerging designers and artists, strong poster campaigns throughout the country, and a French fashion revolution of new freedoms through its multiplicity of changing silhouettes, led by designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and Christian Lacroix.
Collaborations between art and commerce were aplenty. Just think of the partnerships between model and singer Grace Jones and art director Jean-Paul Goude on iconic commercials for Citroën. The Art Deco revival, which had begun the decade before, remained evident in Andrée Putman’s showroom through her revivals of forgotten 1930s designers such as Jean-Michel Frank, Robert Mallet-Stevens, and Eileen Gray. Putman’s designs for the Morgans Hotel in New York—creating luxurious interiors on a small budget—were a refreshing antidote to hotel chains, and arguably launched the concept of the boutique hotel.
Of the French designers highlighted in the exhibition, Philippe Starck probably had the biggest international impact. His Café Costes, which opened in 1984 in the Les Halles neighborhood in Paris, reflected the mix of creativity and quality in the design of the café and became a chic and elegant place to see and be seen. Indeed, I remember visiting the café for the first time as a student and, after running my fingers over the wooden back of his art deco, three-legged club chair, saying to myself, “So this is design!” Stateside, Starck’s interiors for the Royalton (1988) and the Paramount (1990) hotels in New York showed that design could be a calling card.
Nostalgic as the show was for me, it recalled how the ’80s represented a joyful clash of styles and how that decade filled the worlds of fashion, design, and graphic arts with creativity and freedom—characteristics we need more of today.
This article first appeared in the March 2023 issue of ARCHITECT.
