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Alasdhair Willis

Philip Wood

History’s Limits

Star Power

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I have always been a collector. When my wife and I moved into our apartment 15 years ago, we were art collectors. Then we became interested in furniture. It was a very natural progression. We started by collecting pieces from the 1960s and 1970s, like Pierre Paulin’s.

Galerie Kreo opened in 1999 just before design became a hot market for collectors. Did you see this coming?

I never thought about whether it would be successful or not. . . . I just started showing what I loved, and it happened to be at the right cultural moment.

What is Galerie Kreo’s goal as a design laboratory?

Marketing puts so many constraints on designers. As a result, it is very difficult for designers to do what they want. For me, the most important thing is to be able to speak about design and to always be thinking about design.

What’s your take on collecting for speculation?

I don’t care about speculative buying. I know there’s a whole strategy of thinking behind it, but it’s not what I do or what I show. Not long ago, everyone was buying design in the same way and for similar reasons. Today people buy design for different reasons—for fashion, trends and the market. Those are stories I don’t understand.

Do you think the tumult in the global financial markets will affect the demand for limited editions? Do you expect a trend toward more democratic designs?

Ninety-nine percent of the people we work with are real collectors. Sure, the collectors might collect less, but they will continue to collect. Also, there’s a difference between collecting furniture and art. You use furniture. It’s your home. In that way, design is not like a piece of art; it has a more functional place.

How do you determine a great work of design?

I begin to really look at something when I don’t understand it. When I understand a piece, I feel more like the designer, because I [know] the choices he or she made. But when I don’t understand a piece, I begin to really listen to it. Not understanding a piece is what I like.

What is your advice to people who are just beginning to collect furniture?

Educate yourself. . . . Speak to lots of people. Go to museums. Are there any trends you are tracking? No. What I like in a designer is a different way of thinking. For instance, David Dubois created a bench that has a fountain of water that you can’t see. It’s one of 16 new pieces we’re showing. I believe this design reflects a poetic way of thinking. Each one of our designers is thinking about the future of the world.

Why do you believe there is so much energy in the design world right now?

The global market has a lot to do with it. Take our parents. They liked to live with the furniture their parents owned. Now this generation has IKEA. All the design you find in stores is contemporary and affordable, whereas furniture from the 18th century or the 1930s is so expensive.

Do you think this abundance of affordable contemporary design will improve the way we live or deluge us with slick objects?

I think IKEA is a fantastic way to explain design to a younger generation. You can find everything there. It’s easy. On the other hand, to find the necessary piece—that is much harder. "Didier Krzentowski" originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's December 2008 Table of Contents.