Franck Genser

Destined for a career in engineering after his scientific studies, Franck Genser created his first company upon graduating. Called NAG, ‘not suffering from gravity’, the company took him to the four corners of the world and over a dozen countries. In 1995 he received the Grand Prix of the National Agency for the Valorization of Research, for his work focused on soil—soil that is still used today in many European soccer stadiums, including those of Barcelona and Arsenal. He later brought this research to the United States with the creation of another company NARRS.

In 2005, tired of running all over the world for business, Genser returned to France. In a moment of vivid inspiration he created yet another company, Protagoras. Quickly establishing itself on the market, the company has been growing and innovating constantly for the past 15 years.

In 2016, he opened a workshop bringing together designers, engineers, and craftsmen. A breeding ground for ideas and projects, the creative space focuses on finding innovative new solutions.

To create new things, you have to think in new ways. His creative method is a result of his study and practice of Gestalt. “Psychoanalytical work has by far, always been the most profitable”, Franck Genser. Classically, in industrial design, form follows function. Form, however, is Genser’s primary concern. Inspiration and illumination hit him first. He then explores and probes the project, questioning and speaking with the environment until a clear and perfectly adjusted form appears.

Genser works from this, what he calls a form’s “emergence,” to  its creation, molding the desired energy in the physical object. “It seems to me that when one creates, he transmits a part of his energy to the person using his creation,” he says. His creations transmit power, sweetness, a sense of security, support. One feels comfortable, free, and serene.

Franck Genser questions the role of furniture in interrelations. His design approach comes from a field perspective, designing the object and its desired impact on its environment. For in this approach the object and its environment are inseparable entities. Today Franck thinks of furniture as an indispensable parameter in the field. The shape, the surface, as well as the material of an object, all participate in the conscious and unconscious experience of the user in the moment. The designer applies this notion to interior design. The room, the layout, and the light, exist and create the experience felt by the occupant.