Philipe Starck on Design and Politics

Philippe Starck, one of the world’s best-known contemporary designers, has created interiors for luxury hotels, restaurants, condos, and weekend homes. Objects he has designed include plastic Louis Ghost chairs, AK-47 gun lamps, and a whole host of everyday items, such as a spider-like chrome juice squeezer for Alessi, noodles for Panzani, mineral-water bottles, toothbrushes, luggage, a motorcycle, a mega-yacht, and a new euro coin in honor of France’s presidency of the European Union.

Starck, who revels in being provocative, recently has taken on the role of creative adviser to mydeco, a London startup that aims to “democratize” interior design. The French designer also wants to democratize ecology, with his new design for a $600 personal windmill that’s supposed to generate 20% to 60% of the energy needed to power a home.

Sporting a white T-shirt, blue, yellow and red patterned pants, and a sunburn, Starck recently met with BusinessWeek’s Jennifer L. Schenker at his offices near the Bastille in Paris to discuss the future of design, his new line of eco-friendly objects, and mydeco.

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JJ is the co-founder of 5ft Creatives and he is now a legal alien in the USA