Pierre Saalburg – An Architect’s furniture

Exhibition from Thursday, 16 November to Saturday, 23 December 2023

Galerie Alexandre Biaggi 14, rue de Seine – 75006 Paris

Above from left to right :

« DONJON I » / « DONJON II » / « DONJON III » / « DONJON I » TABLE LAMPS

Polished, painted aluminium

45 x 24 x 14 cm / 55 x 38 x 25 cm / 45 x 34 x 24 cm / 45 x 24 x 14 cm

I first met Pierre Saalburg through some mutual friends.

He invited me to the apartment he had fitted out near the Drouot auction house and for which he had designed the furniture.

I immediately loved the calm, serene atmosphere that reigned: an atmosphere ideal for reflection.

I was touched by a feeling of fluidity, of lightness.

And I was struck by the apartment’s furniture that was unlike any I had seen before.

Each item had been so carefully designed after giving a great deal of thought to its volume in the space, and with a good dose of imagination.

So I very quickly suggested to Pierre that we organise an exhibition.

This exhibition is also the fruit of lengthy discussions between Pierre and myself about decorative arts and architecture.

I was not surprised to learn that he had often undertaken architectural work on religious sites.

This explained his attention to detail, the care taken in the production of the furniture and the need for quality craftmanship.

Today, I am delighted to present Pierre Saalburg’s work.

ALEXANDRE BIAGGI

Pierre Saalburg’s creations are now on sale at the Alexandre Biaggi gallery.

Above from left to right :

‘COLLECTIONNEUR’ SIDE TABLE / ‘COLLECTIONNEUR’ SELLETTE

Folded, polished aluminium, painted steel

75 x 88 x 38 cm / 86 x 46 x 42 cm

PIERRE SAALBURG

For the first time, Pierre Saalburg will be exhibiting eleven pieces of furniture and four lamps and lighting objects starting on 16 November at the gallery of Alexandre Biaggi, 14 rue de Seine.

A gallery owner who likes taking risks and recognises talent when he sees it.

A lover of architecture from an early age, Pierre Saalburg naturally made it his profession (he graduated from the Architectural Association in London and the East London School of Architecture in 1999).

He founded his own agency LSL Architects with his wife Anki Linde in 2006, in Paris. From homes to offices and restaurants, they develop projects all over the world.

With one guiding principle: sobriety but without lapsing into minimalism. And aiming for balance, focusing on the essential and eliminating anything that isn’t.

“Nothing to take away, nothing to add”

This almost obsessive approach revealing his extreme intellectual rigour and great sensitivity is rooted in Pierre Saalburg’s fascination with monastery architecture. He has penned two papers, one on Benedictine architecture and the other on Cistercian architecture.

He also worked for six years as project manager for the John Pawson agency, developing the first campaign of work for the Cistercian Nový Dvùr monastery in the Czech Republic (construction of a church, a cloister and restoration of existing buildings).

“Architecture where flaws and accretion over time are off-topic”

Let’s now turn to Pierre Saalburg’s work on furniture and lighting, which began in 2011. It stems from a long period of reflection on the ‘less is more’ approach developed by Mies van der Rohe.

The connections between Pierre Saalburg’s architectural world, based on simplification and purity, and the design of his creations are clear to see, resulting in a highly contemporary work.

The design is stripped of all ornament, the shape worked to the core, the underlying subtleties thus revealed.

‘COLLECTIONNEUR’ LECTERN

Bent and polished aluminium, painted steel

122 x 59 x 45 cm

The triptych, for example, consists of a central mirror made of pewter leaf, which can be set between two wall lights to form an ensemble over two metres long.

In this ornamental piece, the faceted mirror, an architectural fragment, is inspired by the openings in the apse of Thoronet Abbey which diffuse light with varying intensities, and echoes the theme of the mirror window, as found in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

Similarly, the table, with its top composed of 200,000 monochrome beads (500 hours of work), produces an iridescent effect in the light and a pattern emerges, as if rising from the depths of water.

The two white lacquer cabinets, one vertical, the other horizontal, standing on their single legs, assert the monumental presence of some 18th-century furniture, structuring the space without invading it. The subtle cut of the doors when opened emphasises Pierre Saalburg’s attention to detail and finish.

Three side tables with painted steel bases and matt polished aluminium tops are reminiscent of lecterns, standing on stilt legs. The three different types of base create specific pieces of furniture with different functions.

The 45cm-high sculpture-lamps made of folded, bent aluminium, polished on the inside and painted black on the outside, project shapes on the ceiling. One lamp, a 2.05m column, resembles a scale-model skyscraper. They feature an unusual detail, the miniature staircases at their base, rising up but where to?

This raises the question of the poetic and spiritual dimensions of Pierre Saalburg’s work, all of which echo his primary vocation, architecture.

Pierre Saalburg, who draws his inspiration from monastic architecture, but also from his love of the style of legendary poster artist A.M. Cassandre and from his strolls through the Drouot auction house, explores different realms with ease, delivering the lines of a powerful style readily suited to any type of décor.

Rarely has the world of contemporary creation revealed such personal and accomplished work.

ALEXANDRA D’ARNOUX