Category: chair design awards

In 1982 Philippe Starck won VIA’s second Carte Blanche grant given to a forward-thinking project by a promising designer, with his “Don Denny” chair. Later, this famous chair appeared in the Café Costes.

This was on my back burner for quite some time. Just to remember the French association VIA (or Valorisation de l’Innovation dans l’Ameublement) that gives Carte Blanche awards to promising designers.

As part of its mission to promote and recovery of French, VIA gives each year one or more “Carte Blanche” to designers whose originality and maturity of the creative process are notable in that time. A commission, composed of personalities from industry, distribution, creation, education and the press, awards a fellowship to the creator selected to develop a personal project prospective. The purpose of the Carte Blanche is to develop a program to rehabilitate our daily activities based on the new behavior of our contemporaries. The designer has studies and discussions by the VIA VIA and guidance throughout the development process of the project whether compliance with the functional logic, purchase or technical feasibility. The “Carte Blanche” offer industrialists, publishers and distributors the opportunity to discover and meet the talent that will create the living environment of tomorrow.

Since its inception, has awarded 67 grants VIA ‘Carte Blanche’.

via Via 30 Years of Furniture Design and the Slideshow on Dwell.