Last week, as Pro-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, I had the privilege of serving as sponsor to the iconic French designer Philippe Starck at the ceremony in which the Rector, Professor Isabel Capelo Gil, awarded him the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa. More than an individual distinction, the moment affirmed a vision: that of design as a cultural, ethical and transformative force in society.
Born in Paris in 1949, the son of an aeronautical engineer, Philippe Starck grew up in an environment shaped by technical precision and imagination. From an early age, however, he refused to be confined by technique. Over more than four decades of creation, his work has been guided by a simple and radical question: what are things for, and whom do they serve?
Educated at the École Nissim de Camondo, he came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s with an approach that challenged the dominant trends of the time. When design was often reduced to style or status, Starck insisted it should be, above all, intelligent, ethical and useful. That conviction has translated into a body of work remarkable for its breadth, spanning furniture and public spaces, hospitality and everyday objects, technology and mobility.
His work has entered millions of homes and public spaces around the world. Many of us did not encounter Philippe Starck in a museum, but in everyday life: in a restaurant chair, a hotel lamp, a bathroom fixture. That discreet and constant presence is perhaps the clearest sign of his cultural impact – a design that is not merely seen, but lived.
My own journey with Starck’s work reflects this dimension. The first encounter was through his objects, which entered my daily life and my home. The second came later, through his ideas and concepts, as a professor and researcher in the field of innovation. While studying the role of design in the creation of meaning, I rediscovered Starck as a thinker and as a living example of what we now call design-driven innovation. The third encounter was in person, here in Lisbon, through his dialogue with students at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and his active presence in the Portuguese cultural ecosystem.
More than shapes, Philippe Starck creates meaning. His spaces are never neutral: they tell stories, evoke emotions and challenge habits. For him, design is not merely problem-solving, but the production of meaning. Innovation, in this perspective, is not only technological – it is also cultural.
In recent years, this vision has become even clearer through a philosophy of “less, but better”: fewer objects, fewer resources, longer life cycles and a critical reflection on what is truly necessary. The idea of a lighter, more mobile and more conscious life is not, in Starck’s case, a technological fantasy, but a societal proposal.
Philippe Starck’s connection to Portugal reinforces this interpretation. A resident of Lisbon for more than a decade, he recently collaborated with Delta Cafés on the launch of the Rise machine and has maintained a close dialogue with the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Not as a distant figure from the heights of design stardom, but as an intellectual committed to the responsibility of creation.
It is in this sense that his work can be understood as a true diakonia of culture: a culture placed at the service of society. Through design, Starck educates the eye, transforms practices and actively contributes to the cultural fabric we inhabit.
At a time marked by technological acceleration, environmental crisis and social fragmentation, the academic recognition of Philippe Starck reminds us that creativity reaches its highest form when it serves the human – and when design fully embraces its cultural responsibility.
Bravo Philippe!
Céline Abecassis-Moedas, Pro-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Universidade Católica Portuguesa