The "Paris Sur Mode" show at the Tuileries Gardens hosted from September 29 to October 2 a groundbreaking exhibition dedicated to visionary designer Quasar Khanh (1934-2016). It features the designer's iconic pop creations, namely the Aerospace inflatable furniture and the Cube car.
Nguyen Manh Khanh his real name was born in Hanoi in 1934. He left Vietnam in 1949 and moved with his parents to France, more precisely to Paris. He studied engineering at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, opted for the pseudonym of Quasar Khanh and obtained his engineering degree in 1959. He works for many reputable companies such as the Société Générale d'Entreprises and the engineering consulting firm of large hydraulic dams Coyne and Bellier. Ingenious and inventive, Quasar Khanh worked around projects as multiple as varied: boats, aviation, furniture, cars, fashion... In 1968, he designed the line of inflatable furniture Aerospace as a tribute to the conquest of space. He is the first designer to have this original idea! Success came very quickly as the range was exhibited in 1969 at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris and at the Triennale in Milan. He is also the first inventor of a range of foam furniture covered with vinyl: "the velvet cube". His creations are present at the Vitra Design Museum, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Plasticarium in Brussels , and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. [caption id="attachment_6875" align="aligncenter" width="724"]
Portrait by Quasar Khanh | Car The Cube, photo sources: © www.quasar-khanh.com [/caption] Note in your diaries, the publication of the book prefaced by Philippe Starck dedicated to Quasar Khanh at Albin-Michel editions, jointly written by Benoit Ramognino of Velvet Galerie, Marc Mineray of Galerie 47 and Fabrice Peltier of Design Pack Gallery. Photos by Benjamin Chelly
