Patrick Norguet, the constructive rebel

The phrase attached to Patrick Norguet sounds like a contradiction: a constructive rebel. It fits. Trained in industrial design in Paris at ESDI after a childhood spent filling blank sketchbooks instead of textbooks, he questions conventions the way an engineer does — by building a better answer. His client list runs from Cappellini, who noticed him in 2000, to contract names such as Allermuir and Studio TK, and the work never shouts: authenticity and elegance, argued quietly, one object at a time.

For Lapalma, the Italian brand he has worked with among the greats, he signed the Mak bar stool (2012) — part of the catalogue La Mercanti draws on when a British project needs its counters and breakout areas to carry one calm signature.