Donald Judd Foundation to Showcase Pierre Paulin's Furniture Designs in New Exhibit

The Donald Judd Foundation is continuing its exhibition series at 101 Spring St NYC with a curation of 6 pieces from Pierre Paulin‘s design archive. The forthcoming Pierre Paulin: Action House exhibit will highlight the French designer’s work made for an unrealized Herman Miller project aimed at innovating domestic design systems.

The content of the showcase came to fruition in 1968, when Paulin began work on a series of prototypes that would translate Herman Miller’s Action Office initiative into residential furnishings. Co-curated by the artistic director of The Judd Foundation Flavin Judd and Paulin, Paulin, Paulin, the installation includes the six original maquettes (roughly translating to prototypes), numbered zero through five.

Though many decades have passed since the prototypes were produced, Paulin’s utopian vision maintains a fresh and futuristic sensibility. Rooted in a human-centered pragmatism, Paulin designed the six pieces to be customizable into unique configurations based on user preference, culture, space and intuition.

A coveted piece of Modernist design to this day, the Dune seating system’s naturalistic landscape of triangular upholstered panels has a strong grounding effect, reflecting Paulin’s affinity for the floor as a plane of design. On a smaller scale, the symmetrical Tapis Siege sits on an overhanging rectangular wooden platform that can serve as additional storage or display space.

These ultra-modern pieces and their four other counterparts are softened through their smooth curvilinear shapes, ultimately imbuing them with a humane quality in their industrial makeup.

The Pierre Paulin: Action House exhibit will officially open to the public on November 16 until February 15, 2025 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays.