Pig intestines, plant roots and Balinese river plastic – young designers get inventive at Maison & Objet

Maison et Objet Maison Polita vases.

‘Even though Maison & Objet isn’t somewhere I’d do shopping for my home, it’s the opportunity to show my approach to design, emerging and confirmed talents, and how to construct a large-scale hotel differently by using recyclable materials,’ said Lionel Jadot, Designer of the Year at the 30th-anniversary edition of Maison & Objet, which took place at the Parc des Expositions, 5-9 September 2024.

The Belgian designer’s installation, Radical Anthropocene Adhocism, drew on his experiences of art-directing the Mix hotel in Brussels and the Jam hotel chain (already in Brussels, with Jam Hotel Lisbon recently opened, Ghent coming in 2025, and Rome in the pipeline). For each project, Jadot commissions designers from creative hub Zaventum Ateliers as well as local talents. At Maison & Objet, his works made from asphalt were showcased alongside 30 designers, including Xavier Servas’ lamps made from pigs’ intestines, Bel Albatros’ wall coverings made from recycled bags and Mathilde Wittock’s acoustic panels made from a material developed from the roots of plants.

Maison & Objet September 2024 highlights

Lionel Jadot, Designer of the Year at the 30th-anniversary edition of Maison & Objet (Image credit: Anne-Emmanuelle Thion)

Upcycled products were spotted on several stands. Nantes-based Instead presented its ‘Newport’ bar stools and chairs made from founder Franck Grossel’s patented eco-material, Le Balt, using brewery grains left over from brewing beer.

Instead Mobilier's table and stool from the ‘Newport’ collection (Image credit: Courtesy of Instead)

In Future on Stage featured three startups. Sungai Design unveiled the ‘Ombak’ lounge chair and ‘Muara’ stool and bench created from river plastic in Bali, cleaned up by its sister NGO Sungai Watch. ‘The idea is to stock as much plastic as possible so that it doesn’t go back into the rivers; I’m typically in the rivers every day so it’s an incredible opportunity to be here learning the world of design,’ said Sam Bencheghib, who co-founded the initiative with siblings Kelly and Gary.

Sungai Design's Sam and Kelly Bencheghib with the ‘Ombak’ lounge chair (Image credit: Anne-Emmanuelle Thion)

Also in Future on Stage were bespoke wooden wheelchairs by Apollo, launched by wheelchair-user/engineer Paul de Livron, including the model of his wheelchair made for the Pope, whom Livron met at the Vatican. Finally, Konqrit’s handcrafted fibreglass bathtubs were designed by Buenos Aires-based Cecilia García Galofre.

Bespoke wooden wheelchair by Apollo (Image credit: Anne-Emmanuelle Thion)

In the Rising Talents Awards, highlighting designers from northern Europe, Iceland’s Studio Flétta (Birta Rós Brynjólfsdóttir and Hrefna Sigurðardóttir) showed pendant lamps made from discarded sporting trophies as well as felted wool pizzas made from leftovers from the Icelandic wool industry. The studio won the Icelandic Design Award 2024 for its project ‘Pizza Time with Flétta and Ýrúrarí’, a five-day performance held during DesignMarch 2023 where felted wool pizzas were made in a machine and sold to customers.

Rising Talents included Iceland’s Studio Flétta, whose pendent lamps are seen here (Image credit: Anne Emmanuelle Thion)

In a new section called The Maison & Object Factory, Rollo Studio founded by Rollo Byant presented the ‘Orbx’ collection of portable lamps. The exquisite 3D-printed mesh structures crafted from black quartz sand were inspired by organic forms in nature, exemplifying a commitment to biophilic design. Also on the platform were Senimo’s stools and side tables that Fabien Colomines crafts in Paris with stacked elements made from wood and lacquer leftovers; James Haywood’s light sculptures made from mineral resins; and Corpus Studio’s ‘Apollo’ coffee table made from Italian lava stone in collaboration with Italian craftsmen.

Rollo Studio ‘Orbx’ collection of portable lamps. (Image credit: Courtesy of Rollo Studio)

Maison & Objet tapped trend forecasting agency Peclers Paris to conceive the Terra Cosmos theme, which was interpreted by curator Elizabeth Leriche in the ‘What’s New? In Decor’ space. Among the highlights in the solar- and meteorites-inspired space were Russian designer Sofia Karnukaeva’s white sculptural vessel lamps, Imperfetto Lab’s gold lounge chair and Holländer’s silver spherical wall light.

Zaconi’s 'Veli Arido Desert Rose' vases in onyx (Image credit: Courtesy of Zaconi)

Other discoveries included Maximilian Jencquel’s hand-carved incense holder in lava stone at When Objects Work; the modern-meets-primitive vases by Maison Polita (Marie-Josée Elissalde and nephew Nicolas) in collaboration with Moroccan artisans, and Zaconi’s richly veined onyx objects that Amsterdam-based Dayinne Potuyt made using stones sourced in South America and the Middle East.

Dotted among the myriad commercial products at the gigantic fair, a fine array of innovative and ecologically responsible projects using unusual materials were on view.

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Maison & Objet is a biannual fair, with the next edition scheduled for 16-20 January 2025