Despite more than 10 000 creations – completed or in the making – his global fame and his tireless protean inventiveness, he never forgets the essential. Philippe Starck has a mission and a vision: creation, whatever shape it takes, must make life better for the largest number of people possible. Starck believes this highly poetic, political, rebellious, benevolent, pragmatic and subversive duty must be borne by all and he resumes it with the humor that has accompanied his approach since the earliest days: “No one is forced to be a genius, but everyone has to take part.” This citizen of the world, who considers it his duty to share his ethical and subversive vision of a fairer planet, creates unconventional places and objects whose purpose is to be “good” before being beautiful. His profound comprehension of contemporary mutations, his enthusiasm for imagining new lifestyles, his determination to change the world, his devotion to positive de-growth, his love of ideas, his desire to defend the intelligence of usefulness – and the usefulness of intelligence – have accompanied one iconic creation after the other… From everyday products such as furniture and citrus-squeezers, to revolutionary mega-yachts, hotels and restaurants that aspire to be wondrous, stimulating and intensely vibrant places, Starck never ceases in pushing the boundaries and requirements of contemporary design. From individual windmills, to a smart thermostat, electric bikes, or innovative and ecological wooden prefabricated houses – soon to be followed by solar boats and space tourism habitation modules, his technological miracles are vectors of democratic ecology, focused on action and a respect for the future of both humans and nature. Predicting the phenomena of convergence and dematerialization, Philippe Starck has always devised objects that demand the most from the least. The solutions provided by his dreams are so vital, so essential that he was the first Frenchman to be invited to speak at the legendary TED conferences. Inventor, creator, architect, designer, artistic director, Philippe Starck is all of the above, but above all he is a man of honesty, in the purest tradition of the Renaissance artists.