GENERATION USEFUL SHAPES · DIZAGN RESEARCH
ANTOINE PHILIPPON & JACQUELINE LECOQ
1930–1995 · 1932– · DESIGN · FURNITURE · INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq form one of the most cohesive couples of the Utile Forms Generation. Their work combines constructive rigor, precision of proportions, new materials and a lasting commitment to the defense of interior architecture.
BIOGRAPHY
Antoine Philippon was born in 1930 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye into a family connected to the furniture trade in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. After studying at the École Boulle from 1946 to 1950, he joined Marcel Gascoin's ARHEC in 1952, where he was recruited by Michel Mortier.
Jacqueline Lecoq, born in Orléans in 1932, initially trained as an architectural assistant at the Orléans Regional School of Fine Arts before enrolling at the ENSAD (National School of Decorative Arts) in interior architecture. She met Antoine Philippon in 1954 at ARHEC (Association for Research and Higher Education in Contemporary Architecture). The closure of Gascoin's firm in 1955 accelerated their professional partnership.
They opened their agency in 1956 and became members of the ACMS and the Société des Artistes Décorateurs. Very quickly, their work combined furniture design, participation in competitions, trade shows, and large-scale interior design projects. The publishers Mouraux, Degorre, Bofinger, Airborne, Laauser, Erwin Behr, Minvielle, and Néos distributed their creations in France and abroad.
The couple received numerous awards: the SEAI bronze medal in 1956, the Grand Prix at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958, the gold medal in 1959, and the René Gabriel Prize in 1961. Their P60 chair, produced by Airborne, was manufactured on a large scale, while their offices, kitchens, and interior design ensembles explored glass, laminate, metal, and industrial materials.
Their involvement goes beyond simply creating objects. They actively participate in French and international professional institutions, the Society of Decorative Artists, CAIM, and IFI. They also work on public and private projects: Mobilier National, Maison de la Radio, Crédit Agricole, airlines, municipal facilities, and offices.
WORK AND FORMAL LANGUAGE
Rigour is the guiding principle of their work. Jacqueline Lecoq emphasized the importance of simplicity, beautiful proportion, and functionalism in Jacques Dumond's teaching. This discipline is reflected in the couple's design, where glass, metal, and laminate are used with precision and restraint.
Their projects demonstrate a constant attention to the relationship between structure, material and use, from standard seating to complete interior design solutions.
PUBLISHERS AND COLLABORATORS
Mouraux & Cie · Degorre · Bofinger · Airborne · Laauser · Erwin Behr · EIB-Minvielle · Néos · Bartolini · Mobilier national.
SELECTIVE CHRONOLOGY
1954 — meeting at ARHEC 1956 — opening of the agency 1958 — Grand Prix in Brussels 1959 — National Furniture and Formica competition 1960 — P60 chair and Milan Triennale 1961 — René Gabriel Prize 1963 — Radio House 1969 — Antoine Philippon, President of SAD 1970s — equipment, offices and major programs.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thibault Lannuzel, Useful Forms Generation, doctoral thesis, Paris IV-Sorbonne, 2016 · Pascal Renous, texts devoted to Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq · Philippon-Lecoq archives kept at the Musée des Arts décoratifs.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Selection currently undergoing documentary verification before publication.
The three documents below are taken from the iconographic corpus of the thesis Useful Forms Generation and the archival collections that it references.
PERIOD DOCUMENTS — SELECTION
PHILIPPON & LECOQ AT DIZAGN
No items currently published on DIZAGN have been automatically linked to this page. This section will be completed after the catalog has been checked.