As part of the 2019 Design Parade at the Villa Noailles in Hyères and the 4th edition of International Festival of interior design in Toulon, the Pompidou Centre presents an exhibition of its Design collections, curated by Marie-Ange Brayer. More than sixty exceptional pieces are gathered in a scenography designed by India Mahdavi.
Inspired by the Art Deco architecture of the Cercle Naval de Toulon and its past as a reception Hall for the Navy, this exhibition explores the history of design through the revolution of body postures in relation to new design shapes. With the birth of modern times in the early 20th century, industrialisation, and the emergence of leisure, new postures embody a new form of emancipation. The body is no longer only vertical but slowly unfolds into new spatial dynamics.
The first part of the exhibition shows the history of the chaise longue and lounge chair, from Robert Mallet-Stevens’ Transat (1923) to Martin Székely’s Pi Chaise longue (1983).
The second part explores the wavy shapes and new postures of the Pop years followed by the section of the inflatable pieces.
In a tribute to designers’ propensity to soften the strict figure of a piece of furniture, the stripe, eternal symbol of the beach, is subject to India Mahdavi’s distortions.