October 20, 2010

Ozoo, Par Le Maître De Plastic Kids Furniture, Marc Berthier

berthier_bench_form71.jpg
Ozoo 0600 desk, 1971, image via form.de

We've seen some of designer Marc Berthier's kids furniture before, and we'd probably see more of it if the mid-70s oil crisis didn't wreak havoc on the economics of plastic. Or if we were in France, where a fair number of his old Prisunic pieces turn up.

But In 1967, Berthier designed the Ozoo collection for Roche Bobois, the first all fiberglass furniture made in France. [That put him out of the running for first molded fiberglass furniture made anywhere, a claim which Walter Papst fiercely defended.] Oddly, it wasn't until 1971 that Form Magazine got around to featuring the Ozoo collection, and without a mention of Roche Bobois. Maybe Berthier had gone indie by then? qui sait, pas moi!

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Ozoo 0600 en classe, image via ribambins

The Ozoo 0600 desk has enough plastic to start an oil crisis all by itself. Ribambins says that these were deployed in French schools, which seems impractical. [Ribambins also has great vintage photos of the rest of the Ozoo collection, including a more normal-looking, contour-top 0700 writing table. Very nice.]

berthier_bed_0200_form.jpg
Ozoo 0200 bed, 1971, image via form.de

What caught my eye in Form, though, was this bed, the Ozoo 0200. [Or maybe 0200 is a typo for Ozoo. Never noticed that.] Anyway, if you remove the giant heat lamp, it's kind of mod, slick, lowslung and generally awesome. And not terribly expensive, either. The Paris [!] Marseille auction house Leclere sold a pair of yellow 0200's in 2008 for just EUR450.

berthier_lit_leclere.jpg

Though somehow they were dated 1965. I hope Walter Papst doesn't hear about this.

Paire de lits, Ozoo 0200, Marc Berthier, c. 1965, est ER600/800, sold EUR 450 [liveauctioneers]
Les écoliers équipés par Marc Berthier. [ribambins]
Avril 68, to the Prisunic catalogue, citoyens!

1 Comment

The bed is not totally unlike the Stapelliege by Müller Möbelwerke: http://www.muellermoebel.de/stapelliege-von-rolf-heide-und-bett-plane-von-felix-stark/stapelliege-fuer-kinder/

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