Paolo Pallucco and Mireille Rivier form one of the most radical and distinctive duos in Italian design of the 1980s. He, an Italian architect, visionary design editor, and instinctive creator; she, a Franco-Swiss designer, responsible for technical feasibility and the balance of forms. Together, they developed furniture of exceptional sculptural power, where poetry, architecture, war, photography, religion, and popular culture converge. Produced between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, their creations are now considered among the major works of Italian radical design. Galerie Ketabi Bourdet continues its extensive research into their work, contributing to its rediscovery among collectors and institutions.
The story of Paolo Pallucco & Mireille Rivier is above all one of exceptional creative complementarity. In the mid-1980s, Paolo Pallucco, founder of the Pallucco company, conceived radical furniture informed by architecture, poetry, and the major cultural shifts of his time. Mireille Rivier transformed these intuitions into realizable objects, mastering proportions, technical details, and manufacturing constraints. Together, they refused any compromise: when an idea could not be realised in accordance with the original concept, it was simply abandoned.
Their production emerged within a context in which Italian design was profoundly challenging the principles of modernism. Far from the functionalism inherited from previous decades, they imagined furniture in which every element became the bearer of a narrative. References to Rainer Maria Rilke, cinema, photography, Catholicism, architecture, and military vocabulary permeate their creations. Furniture ceased to be a simple utilitarian object and became an intellectual and poetic construction.
Pieces such as Barba d’Argento, Tankette, Bocca da Fuoco, Hans e Alice, Black Stalker, Lily of the Wind, and Bahut W il Toro are now considered among the most emblematic works of Italian design of the 1980s. Their aesthetic combines exceptional craftsmanship with a radical formal language, made possible by the industrial resources available to Pallucco through his activity as a design editor.
This technical mastery allowed them to incorporate mechanical elements, industrial chains, metal components, and moving mechanisms rarely encountered in furniture of the period.
The duo’s universe extended far beyond the field of design. Photographic campaigns by Peter Lindbergh helped shape a now-iconic visual identity, while their scenography and collaborations with theatre, fashion, and architecture further developed this transdisciplinary vision. Their work engaged in dialogue with creators such as Rei Kawakubo, whose furniture designed for Comme des Garçons boutiques was produced by Paolo Pallucco.
Today, the creations of Paolo Pallucco & Mireille Rivier rank among the most sought-after works of Italian radical design. For several years, Galerie Ketabi Bourdet has conducted extensive research into their production through exhibitions, publications, international fairs, and archival work aimed at reassessing their place in the history of contemporary design.
Selected Bibliography
- Luck and Sex. That's all., Ketabi Projects.
- Financial Times.
- The Art Newspaper.
- Architectural Digest.
- Domus.
- Elle Décoration.