Pulpo’s design fantasy shines bright for Maison&Objet’s 30th anniversary
Published on 5 January 2024
Since orbiting the design planet, comet Pulpo will cross the Maison&Objet sky again this year. “Maison&Objet was our first fair abroad,” Patrick L’hoste recalls. He co-founded Puplo in 2006 together with his wife, Ursula L’hoste. “That was in 2008, and we have been loyal to the fair for almost a decade.” After a break of a few years, the German publisher based in Weil am Rhein is making a remarkable comeback to the show in January 2023. Their booth has since been a highlight of the Parisian salon. The brand is preparing a feast of inventive objects for the upcoming edition, combining functionality and poetry.
Once upon a design-desire
With a fantasy of proportions and now at the avant-garde of high-end design, Pulpo's aesthetic nurtures a passion for materials and enjoys the technical ingenuity of designers with overflowing imagination, with whom the studio knows how to surround itself. However, nothing seemed to foresee Pulpo becoming the leading studio it is today. “Pulpo was born more or less by coincidence,” Patrick L’hoste explains. “We come from the industrial sector. A designer friend shared with us an idea for creating a wall hanging. We decided with her to launch into its design. Pulpo was born from this desire to create a simple object.”
The duo quickly honed an intuitive approach to products from this primary desire, guided by their materiality and an appetite for experimentation. “Our hook expanded and then became a coat rack. In six months, new designers approached us. We studied their ideas and implemented them gradually,” Ursula L’hoste continues. So, almost without knowing it, Pulpo became a design publisher. The brand now produces and represents nearly fifteen international designers.
A game-changer lamp
The Flaming Stars lamps, developed with British ceramist Natascha Madeiski, made an impression during the September 2023 edition of Maison&Objet. A sweetened reverie, a nod to the “Italo-eighties” aesthetic of Memphis design, this series embodies Pulpo’s commitment to lighting sculpture. And it is right at Maison&Objet that this turning point took place. In 2014, Pulpo presented ODA, a floor lamp by Sebastian Herkner. The elegant metal structure, topped with a globe of blown and tinted glass, was an immediate success. Maison&Objet will name Sebastian Herkner “Designer of the Year” a few years later, in 2019. The German designer has remained a faithful accomplice of Pulpo to this day.
“There was truly life before and after ODA,” explains Philippe L’hoste. “This product sold very well thanks to Maison&Objet. It has become a must-have in our catalogue and is today considered classic in lighting design.” The January 2024 edition will allow Pulpo and Herkner to celebrate ODA’s tenth anniversary at Maison&Objet. “On this special occasion, we will present some unique and new editions of this series!” Ursula L’hoste reveals.
Glass with a touch of class
With Herkner and Madeiski, shapes and materials transmute into fascinating lighting artworks. Pulpo's collections also express an appreciation of the potential of ceramic, stone or metal to enrich the studio's catalogue with equally daring furniture pieces and accessories. Each object demonstrates a dedication to Pulpo’s know-how and expertise in the choice of materials, particularly evident in new products such as the lacquered metal chair Pilota by French studio Brichet Ziegler or Franco-Italian Julia Chiaramonti’s Tavolo2’s massive aluminium base.
Since 2013, glass has become Pulpo’s priority field of research, infusing the collections with an ethereal quality that captivates and elevates the essence of design. An exploration of all techniques: handmade “graphic” glass with the Lyn shelves and cabinets by Dutch studio Visser&Meijwaard, to multi-layered “cathedral” glass for Spanish studio MUT Design’s Aspa coffee table. Or even “cast” glass with the Pina side tables by the prolific Sebastian Herkner. Pulpo supports all traditions in addition to encouraging the most contemporary practices.
A love letter to craftsmanship
Considering a “social duty” to guarantee the survival of crafts with generations of expertise, Pulpo continues to support the creative emergence while carefully selecting its manufacturers to offer unique pieces or limited series. Maintaining this philosophy does not always seem easy from a market point of view – rising energy costs or issues in the supply chain can be a real challenge. However, Pulpo continually renews its support for artisans. An aspect now tied to the brand's identity and reflected in the new creations’ quality and the trusted relationships established at each Maison&Objet.
“Maison&Objet has always welcomed us with open arms, and it is of all the fairs the most joyful and fun to participate in,” Ursula L’hoste continues. “Nowhere else do we experience such emotional encounters. Friendships were born with our best customers at the fair.” “Maison&Objet has become our preferred platform; it is now around its editions we plan our entire business year,” Patrick L’hoste concludes.
For this 30th anniversary edition of Maison&Objet, Pulpo continues to reinvent the codes of artistic craftsmanship and design by investing in ever more expressive territories that are as joyful as they are innovative.
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