Family Affair: La Collection Bismut

With such projects as a Parisian penthouse, a villa on Lake Geneva and a barge on the Seine beside the Eiffel Tower, along with foreign embassies, hotels and boutiques, the fraternal architectural duo Daniel and Michel Bismut is successfully carrying on a family tradition begun by their grandfather, Henri, who won the Grand Prize at the Paris Colonial Exhibition in 1931. Their new furniture editions go from strict geometrical lines to whimsical shapes, and combine cabinetmaker quality with surprising colors. The sleek HBO1 desk, with a black metal base and a satin lacquer top in splashy turquoise, yellow, green or orange, is sure to brighten up the dullest office. Also in vividly hued lacquered wood and metal, the Puzzle table comes in a large model of several linked “puzzle” pieces or smaller single-piece side tables, while the Petal table is composed of zany groups of small scattered tables that morph into a topsy-turvy flower.

www.lacollectionbismut.com

Originally published in the March 2012 issue of France Today