Large Gavrotte Floor Lamp by François Azambourg for Cappellini, 2008

Born in Angoulême in 1963, French designer François Azambourg studied electrotechnics at the Institut Lemonnier at Caen, earning a Bachelor’s degree in 1982. He then studied art at the school for one year, in 1983, before going on to earn his Master’s degree (also known as DSAA) in industrial design from the College of Applied Art on Rue Olivier de Serres, Paris, in 1987.

Since 1993, Azambourg has taught design at a variety of schools, including Créapole ESDI, Institut Supérieur de Communication, École Boulle, École Camondo, and, currently, ENSCI-Les Ateliers, all in Paris. He was winner of the Fondation de France in 1988 and the Grand Prix du Design in Paris in 2004, and named Designer of the Year at the 2009 Paris Furniture Fair, among other awards.

Azambourg’s work is characterized by material and technical exploration, and the overlap among technology, applied arts, and design. Clients include Hermès, Cappellini, Ligne Roset, and Poltrona Frau. A few standout projects include his Paper Coffee Maker, which won a 1985 competition organized by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris (1985); Herlight, a line of lightweight bags and briefcases in flexible leather and foam for Hermès (2005); and Mr. Bugatti, a series of lacquered chairs and stools manufactured by Cappellini in superthin steel created using the same technique as that of pre-1970 race cars (2006).

Azambourg lives and works in Paris.

Cappellini was originally founded as a family-owned handcrafted furniture atelier in Como in Lombardy, Italy in 1946. The Cappellini brand as it is known today, however, really had its start in 1979, when Giulio Cappellini took over his family’s business as creative director. He broadened its focus to emphasize manufacturing across both the contemporary furniture and product arenas designed by an international roster of hand selected international emerging and established talents, including the likes of Jasper Morrison, Shigeru Ban, Inga Sempé, Marc Newson, and the Bouroullec brothers. Since that time, Cappellini has produced some of the boldest, most iconic designs of the past century, including Shiro Kuramata’s Pyramid Chest (originally designed in 1968 for Ishamaru, produced by Cappellini beginning in 1987), Tom Dixon’s Bird Chaise Longue (1991), Marcel Wanders’ Knotted Chair (1996), and Dror Benshetrit’s Peacock Chair (2009), among others.

Continuing to emphasize experimental processes, an eclectic mix of materials and styles, and extensive design research, today, the Milan-based brand has stores around the globe, and boasts an array of home and office furnishings, as well as a contract division dedicated to the hospitality sector (hotels, bars, restaurants, and so on). In 2005, the Cappellini brand became part of the Poltrona FrauGroup, an international leader in high-end furnishings, which in turn was acquired by Haworth, Inc. in 2014.)

Cappellini’s objects have been exhibited broadly, and are also included in the permanent collections of respected institutions around the globe, including the  and the Musée Des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Galleria D'Arte Moderna in Rome, the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. New York’s Museum of Modern Artalone has over thirty Cappellini pieces.