Interior Design Hall of Fame

Starck style. The two words conjure up images of sleek, slightly threatening chairs, a horn-shaped lamp, kitchen objects given a new twist, and interiors on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean--most notably the Cafe Costes in Paris that catapulted the designer to instant notoriety and, here in New York, the Royalton and Paramount, both of which impart a new definition to hotel glamour. In little more than five years, Philippe Patrick Starck, a native Parisian, has become the international enfant terrible of the design world. His projects are meant to startle, conforming to no rules other than, according to Mr. Starck, a sense of emotion. One reacts to the designer's work. A Starck object, an interior or an architectural project is admired or abhorred; it rarely evokes a neutral response.

Mr. Starck has designed furniture for the Italian firms of Driade, Baleri, Kartell and Flos, for the Spanish manufacturer Disform, for the Swiss concern Vitra and for the Japanese companies Idee and Casatec. Other products include objects for Alessi, luggage for Vuitton, vases for Daum, tableware for Sasaki and boats for Beneteau. He has designed furniture for former President Mitterand and for the French Minister of Culture's office. A partial listing of interior installations encompasses: the Starck Club in Dallas; Cafe Mystique in Tokyo; Arango restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona; and the first floor of Printemps department store, Paris. He has traveled to Japan, where his building projects include the Moondog block of flats in Tokyo, headquarters for Asahi Beer, Tokyo, and an office construction in Osaka. Other credits include museum exhibitions worldwide and, of course, an impressive collection of awards.