Cultured Magazine

Summer 2012

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Paris Progeny Olivia Putman, now at the helm of Studio Andrée Putman, is lighting up design. BY RIMA SUQI It's an 11-piece collection of chandeliers, sconces, pendants, desk, floor and table lamps, inspired by René Lalique's Art Deco-era designs. Olivia Putman's Orgue chandelier for Lalique. Olivia Putman quietly took over the helm at Studio Andrée Putman about five years ago, when her mother, the legendary designer Andrée Putman, re- tired. The elder Putman had been nudging her daughter for years, but like many children of famous/accomplished parents, the now 47-year-old relished her inde- pendence. "I preferred to do my garden designs, my art exhibitions. I really needed to have my own experiences, to open my own eyes by myself," Olivia Putman ex- plained of those years, which included working with the highly respected landscape designer Louis Benech (who at the time was consulting on the Jardin des Tuileries). Eyes sufficiently opened, she joined the Paris-based firm. And she's been busy ever since, with projects including overseeing the renovation of the Morgans Hotel in New York City, designing furniture for the likes of Emeco and Serralunga and fab- rics for Pierre Frey and, most recently, creating a collection of lighting for Lalique. Called "Orgue" (or "Organ," the musical instrument), it's an 11-piece col- lection of chandeliers, sconces, pendants, desk, floor and table lamps, in- spired by René Lalique's Art Deco-era designs for the first class dining room 58 CULTURED and salon of the S.S. Normandie, the most luxurious ocean liner of its time. Indeed, Putman's designs echo the era and are centered around a seemingly simple cylindrical shape used singularly and in repeat, resulting in incredibly elegant and stately pieces, some of which Ms. Putman has described as "crowns of light suspended in space." "She created something quite spectacular," enthused Maz Zouhairi, pres- ident and CEO of Lalique North America at the collection's launch party. "When you look at it you really see Studio Andrée Putman in it, and at the same time you see Lalique. It's very iconic." And environmentally responsible—only LED lights were used (dimmable, of course), a first for Lalique. Her favorite piece is the smallest one—a table lamp that could perch on a vanity or provide romantic lighting in a cocktail lounge. Why? "The light is beautiful, it reflects through the base," she explained. "It is very, very sim- ple—almost like a child designed it." A certain mother must be very proud.

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