AROUND HOME : Three Leg Chair

A DESIGN-SCHOOL DROPOUT at 18, France’s Philippe Starck at 40 reigns as the design world’s enfant terrible . Fresh from his successful one-man show at Paris’ Centre Pompidou and his win of the first-ever Ministry of Culture Grand National Prize for Design, the Starck, attired in black jeans, T-shirt, ski cap, appears in popular magazines such as Life as often as in the design media.

Starck’s climb to fame began with a commission from President Francois Mitterand to design furniture for the Elysee Palace (France’s White House). In short order he designed a mineral-water bottle, Louis Vuitton luggage and a sailboat. Not to mention the $10-million renovation of the mega-trendy Royalton Hotel in New York. Perhaps Starck wasn’t exaggerating when he told one interviewer, a few years ago, that he had 97 projects on the go.

His first international hit was the Cafe Costes, a Paris cafe. The dining chair, dating from 1984, exemplifies the paradoxical leading-edge-yet-traditional quality of his work. For instance, the three-legged configuration looks tippable, though the legs’ outward slope and consequent low center of gravity ensures stability. On the other hand, the chair back’s gracious curving profile, free of the usual sharp angles, fits the body comfortably and permits one to sink down into the chair curl up and shift position.

An influential chair, the Cafe Costes has seemingly inspired a mini-trend in tub chairs from both sides of the Atlantic, such as American Paul Haigh’s Sinistra for Bernhardt, Canadian Tom Deacon’s Academy for Area and Frenchman Pascal Mourgue’s Atlantic for Artelano. Or is it just coincidence?

Cafe Costes chair is made in Italy by Driade. Black-lacquer finish or mahogany with black-painted steel frame, retail $490; all-aluminum version, $450. At Modern Living, 8125 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles (213) 655-3898.