Pierre Paulin and PPP, which refers to the family business (a collaboration with Pierre’s wife Maia, their son Benjamin, and his wife Alice Lemoine) debuted at RALPH PUCCI with 14 archival pieces that were never able to be manufactured in Pierre’s life because of their intricacies. Paulin worked prolifically on sketches his whole life, including realized designs that spanned several decades as well as unrealized creations. This collection includes designs from the 1960s, 70s and 80s that were not previously in production for the public, as well as chairs commissioned for France’s Elysée Palace and select other one-off, limited editions. Paulin’s work was included in a MoMA exhibit in the 60s where The New York Times called him “the new Eames”, and is in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, and Centre Georges Pompidou, which hosted a solo retrospective in 2016. PPP joined RALPH PUCCI in 2017.

Initially designed in 1970, Pierre’s “Dune” collection features four different seating modules (from $5,400 to $8,220 per module) which are moveable and interchangeable, so the buyer can create their own unique environment. Each module has enough design impact to stand on its own, but when combined with others, the visual effect seems greater than the sum of its parts. Even today, there is something magical about how mountain-esque accent chairs and flat-seat ottomans come together to form a sofa that feels futuristic.

Paulin viewed modernity as something that could be sumptuous and wonderful as well as industrially manufactured. Pieces from Paulin’s “Dune” collection feel equally inspired by science fiction and ecstatic geometry. It’s the work of a designer who happily pushed against the orderly restraint of midcentury design.