Quasar Khanh

Quasar, whose real name is Nguyen Manh Khanh, was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. He adopted his pseudonym, Quasar, the day he married the stylist Emmanuelle Khanh.

He grew up in Paris where he obtained a degree in civil engineering from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in 1959, which gave him access to leading companies.

After starting with the Société Générale d'Entreprises, the largest public works company in France, he joined the prestigious Coyne et Bellier engineering firm specialised in large hydraulic dams. His first mission was to perform laboratory tests for what would be the largest multiple-arch dam in the world, the Manicouagan 5 in Canada.

It was through this experience that Quasar became interested in inflatable objects. He studied the deformation caused by the two heaviest elements, lead and mercury, using a plaster model of the dam. Fearing mercury would endanger the health of his technicians, he began to look for something capable of exerting more force than lead. It didn't take too many sleepless nights before the revelation came: compressed air!

The tests were conclusive: air, the lightest of materials, proved to be the most powerful! He learnt a lesson from this – not to be deceived by appearances – and began to take a passionate interest in ... transparency. He went on to create a line of inflatable furniture.

Engineer, inventor, designer… difficult to know which of these titles best defines Quasar Khanh. His prolific career is full of masterful theories and inventions. Most recently, Quasar very scientifically challenged Einstein's Theory of Relativity. For some he's a little disturbed, while others find him a little disturbing.