Ben Swildens, born in 1938, is a designer of Dutch origin. His father's profession as an architect led him to change countries from an early age, and he followed his father to Morocco where, at the American School of Tangiers, he learned Arabic and Spanish, while imitating his father through drawing.
Ben Swildens, born in 1938, is a designer of Dutch origin. His father's profession as an architect led him to change countries from an early age, and he followed his father to Morocco where, at the American School of Tangiers, he learned Arabic and Spanish, while imitating his father through drawing.
After attending Polytechnique in Switzerland, Ben Swildens entered the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, graduating in 1961. He began working for his teachers, who were the leading craftsmen and designers of the day, as well as for private companies.
From 1962 to 1969, he worked with French master glassmaker and decorator Max Ingrand on a number of projects, including head offices for EDF, PeugeotEDF and Peugeot headquarters, the Lima airport, the Beirut Parliament and the Geneva Museum... Ingrand encouraged Ben Swildens to turn to industrial design.
Together with his brother-in-law Bernard Cohen - future founder of the Parisian Merci boutique - Ben Swildens launched the Point firm, which edited and sold the furniture he designed.
Both were married to two of the Goutal sisters who had created the BonBon brand, and in 1972, this mix gave birth to the Bonpoint brand, for which Ben Swildens designed the first stores in France and the United States.
Finally, in 1985, he created Ben Swildens Designit Architecture, concentrating on individual homes.
He remains an architect and designer, but since 2010, Ben Swildens has devoted himself to sculpture.
Country: Netherlands
