Animal design — Château de Châteaudun — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Ends in 4 months: September 19, 2025 → March 29, 2026

For Biens venus !, the Château de Châteaudun presents a selection of design creations from the collection of the Centre national des arts plastiques, all of which share a connection to the animal world.

Some pieces borrow directly from animal forms, such as Orque, a folded-steel chair by Jean-Philippe Gleizes that adopts the silhouette of the marine mammal; Pack, a sofa by Francesco Binfaré featuring a polar bear lying on a drifting ice floe; and the Whippet Bench by Radi Designers, which stretches the slender silhouette of a greyhound—archetypal hunting dog—into a bench.

Others question our relationship with animals, like Skinspecies, a series of silk scarves by Laura Couto Rosado that cover the face like masks of birds or wolves, inviting us to adopt their points of view. These pieces populate the Longueville wing of the monument like so many hybrid creatures, reminiscent of surrealist imagery.

The presence of a work by Meret Oppenheim, a major figure of this movement, reinforces this lineage through her Traccia side table, with legs sculpted like bird’s feet.

Pucci de Rossi’s Bearskin rug and Big American Moose Trophy (Grand élan d’Atlanta) resonate with the sculpted deer adorning the mantel of one of the monumental fireplaces. Its removable head once allowed the duke to display his most recent trophy, a reminder that big-game hunting was a privilege of the nobility. Pucci de Rossi upends this tradition with his Big American Moose, whose antlers sketch the name of a famous American brand, transforming the hunting trophy into a metaphor for consumer society. Playing with humour and with the fascination the animal kingdom holds for creators, this ensemble allows wildlife to invade one of the château’s two great reception halls.

The hybridity of forms takes on an organic dimension with works by Studio GGSV, founded by French designers Gaëlle Gabillet and Stéphane Villard. Their Ghost Bless You jars push beyond what is usually expected in design and move into the realm of sculpture. Incorporating a performative aspect, these object-creatures even appear to breathe. Animated by an almost ghostly presence—their title makes this explicit—they humorously come to haunt the extraordinary monument that is the Château de Châteaudun.

Exhibition curator: Xavier Franceschi