Joseph Dirand
French, born in 1974 in Paris
Lives and works in Paris
Trained as an architect, Joseph Dirand is an interior designer who draws his inspiration from modernist architecture. Across numerous projects, Dirand unfolds his talent for discreetly quoting and paying tribute to the figures he admires: Le Corbusier, John Pawson, Peter Zumthor, Carlo Scarpa, Eero Saarinen. Nothing is random, nothing superfluous, nothing excessive; Dirand’s interiors, as well as his designs, embody his intransigency towards sobriety, efficiency and elegance.
Working according to the principles advocated by the Union des Artistes Modernes in 1929 —architecture that includes interior and furniture in an overall project— Joseph Dirand went against the grain in his collection for Pierre-Marie Giraud. He tackles furniture as self-standing objects. Deprived of a given context of existence or preconceived environment, each design is given a strong personality and a solemn monumentality. Dirand’s pieces hold an aura similar to that of large architecture: an affective force generated by the tension of the materials, the physical presence, the narratives they embed.
Dirand works closely with the finest craftspeople, allowing for a wide versatility in the choices of material marble, copper, stone, precious woods, and bronze - all backed-up by the insistent excellency of their implementation.