July 4, 2008. Mixing historic and current design, the third annual Design PARADE international festival at the Villa Noailles in Hyères, France opens this weekend and will run through September 21. Eight young designers (including Constance Guisset, Bruno Carvahlo and Stéphane Barbier Bouvet) competing for the Grand Prix and Prix SEB awards, will each fill a room in the original villa. Former Grand Prix winners, Spaniards Sébastien Cordoléani and Franck Fontana will show new pieces. The squash court, pool and gym will be filled with drawings and work by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec while Pierre Charpin vases and tabletop objects manufactured by Sèvres will be in the pink boudoir. A grand room with vaulted ceiling will feature sketches and photos of unconventional interwar landscape design and Noailles history, and a recreation of a 1966 installation by Italian architects Superstudio and Archizoom will inhabit the tower.
The proximity of groundbreaking historical work and groundbreaking contemporary work in such a decadent setting makes the Noailles show well worth a visit. It may cost a lot to get there, but admission is free. villanoailles-hyeres.com