Normal Studio: Sammode’s artistic direction

Normal Studio x Sammode

Since 2014, Éloi Chafaï and Jean-François Dingjian, aka Normal Studio have held the role of artistic directors at Sammode.

Designers Éloi Chafaï and Jean-François Dingjian, aka Normal Studio, founded their agency in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) in 2006. They work for a large number of French and foreign firms, including Tolix, Schneider Electric, the Seb group, Puiforcat, Muuto and Hermès.

Observers of technical processes and familiar with technology transfers, they reinvest everyday forms through simple, precise design that exalts the quality of use. They are equally at home in product design, space design and scenography.

In 2015, they initiated the Sammode Studio range and, for the occasion, designed a table lamp, a hand-held lamp and a floor lamp.

“We love the history of objects, which is above all the history of human beings. We like extraordinary experiences, testimonies of societies, and the processes of implementation as an approach to shaping ideas.”

The Paname collection

In 2018, Normal Studio created a series of perforated grids for Sammode that delicately envelop the tubular luminaires. The Paname collection has its roots in the Rivoli luminaire, designed especially for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where it now lights up the modern galleries. Each motif – Rivoli, Vendôme, Monceau, Belleville – has its own unique story to tell, playing with light in distinct ways, like metallic ornaments that transform the industrial character of the tube into a domestic ambience.