Philippe Starck Named Artistic Director of France's EU Presidency

Designer Philippe Starck on Tuesday said he had been named "artistic director" of France's upcoming EU presidency on the request of Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

"Bernard Kouchner wants the French presidency to have a very interesting, very creative profile," Starck told AFP.

The renowned designer, whose iconic objects range from chairs to juice squeezers and who has revamped the interiors of top hotels and the Eurostar train, said his upcoming brief concerned both the "material and immaterial."The idea was to show "a very modern, very creative France of high technologies, not France wearing a beret, but an avant-garde France," he said by telephone.

The renowned designer, whose iconic objects range from chairs to juice squeezers and who has revamped the interiors of top hotels and the Eurostar train, said his upcoming brief concerned both the "material and immaterial."