20.09.23 in ambassadeurs
Pierre Yovanovitch
Interior architect, furniture designer, collector of design and contemporary art, scenographer, Pierre Yovanovitch is passionate about harmonies and noble materials that he distills from Paris or New York, dressing the most beautiful interiors in London , Tel Aviv, Brussels, New York and Los Angeles. His recent monograph (September 2019) offers, through 14 of his projects, a true immersion in the work of a storyteller of places.
What nourishes you in your profession, what is the source of your inspiration?
I would say the adventures of life itself, feelings, nature, cities, travel, exhibitions. But before all that, there are human relationships, discussions with my team, my connection with craftsmen, artists, gallery owners. They constitute a close guard that is both professional and friendly. My team is ultimately my greatest pride. It's like a family around me and it's her who feeds me.
Who are the people or projects that constitute references for you?
I think first of Jessye Norman, a friend I knew and whom we have just lost. I admired her radical approach to classical music, she taught me a lot about how to approach projects, she was daring and inhabited. Then the architect Jože Plečnik, my idol! At the beginning of the 20th century, he completely redesigned the city of Ljubljana, endowing it with the Saint-François church, public squares, bridges, quays, etc.
There is also the Swedish designer Axel Einar Hjorth at the beginning of the 20th century, Donal Judd or Paul László, the interior designer Jean-Michel Frank.
And obviously, Pierre Cardin, with whom I had the chance to work, a tireless visionary. Finally, I would like to add the director Patrice Chéreau, for whom I have immense admiration.
What compliment do you get about your work as an interior designer?
My work is very much about intuition. I like the idea that people feel, through what I do, that my approach is sensitive and sincere. I try to do things that are resolutely close to life and the feelings that flow through it.
The city that inspires you or resembles you?
Paris, even if it means appearing common! This city is sublime, it is impossible to tire of its beauty, it has romantic but positive vibes. New York - where I have an office - with such street energy that it erases the time difference. And Venice, for its madness and excess, the ultimate expression of man's capacity to conceive the splendor of a city. Proof that, if people are capable of the worst, they are especially gifted for the best. All these places intertwine with, implicitly, my roots in Provence, its light and its powerful mistral.
What nourishes you in your profession, what is the source of your inspiration?
I would say the adventures of life itself, feelings, nature, cities, travel, exhibitions. But before all that, there are human relationships, discussions with my team, my connection with craftsmen, artists, gallery owners. They constitute a close guard that is both professional and friendly. My team is ultimately my greatest pride. It's like a family around me and it's her who feeds me.
Who are the people or projects that constitute references for you?
I think first of Jessye Norman, a friend I knew and whom we have just lost. I admired her radical approach to classical music, she taught me a lot about how to approach projects, she was daring and inhabited. Then the architect Jože Plečnik, my idol! At the beginning of the 20th century, he completely redesigned the city of Ljubljana, endowing it with the Saint-François church, public squares, bridges, quays, etc.
There is also the Swedish designer Axel Einar Hjorth at the beginning of the 20th century, Donal Judd or Paul László, the interior designer Jean-Michel Frank.
And obviously, Pierre Cardin, with whom I had the chance to work, a tireless visionary. Finally, I would like to add the director Patrice Chéreau, for whom I have immense admiration.
What compliment do you get about your work as an interior designer?
My work is very much about intuition. I like the idea that people feel, through what I do, that my approach is sensitive and sincere. I try to do things that are resolutely close to life and the feelings that flow through it.
The city that inspires you or resembles you?
Paris, even if it means appearing common! This city is sublime, it is impossible to tire of its beauty, it has romantic but positive vibes. New York - where I have an office - with such street energy that it erases the time difference. And Venice, for its madness and excess, the ultimate expression of man's capacity to conceive the splendor of a city. Proof that, if people are capable of the worst, they are especially gifted for the best. All these places intertwine with, implicitly, my roots in Provence, its light and its powerful mistral.
“My work has a lot to do with intuition. I like the idea that people feel, through what I do, that my approach is sensitive and sincere. »
What is the art of living according to you? How would you define your way of being and living?
I celebrate life in all its ramifications, I strive to ensure that beauty is summoned on all its levels. If I walk, I choose the most moving route. If I drive, I choose the road that has the most charm. To summon beauty is to always be in search, in one's inner life as in one's life led outside. Life is not easy and beauty is a help, an enhancer of happiness.
Your favorite themes in your creative approach?
When I create an interior, I first want to tell a story, to myself, then, of course, to my interlocutor.
For my exhibition “Love” which began in November, I imagined this woman, Miss Oops, and a journey of her emotions through the 5 rooms of a staged apartment, in the R&Company gallery in NY. People wander from room to room and become immersed in the emotions of this character. Art cannot take place without narration and love is my favorite theme.
Your reference project?
My house in Provence, isolated in the depths of a vast forest. It combines and expresses with simplicity what I know how to do and what inspires me. It embodies my vision of things and brings together art, interior architecture, decoration, garden, crafts, furniture... It's where I come to recharge my batteries like nowhere else and where I receive my friends, my clients, like in a house of family.
What are your favorite materials, shapes or patterns?
Raw wood in all its species, always solid. Ceramic, which is such a lively and exciting material, infinitely modular, its colors and imperfections create permanent surprises.
Glass and metal.
Your biggest challenge achieved or to be achieved?
The hotel that we will open in December in Méribel is called Le Coucou. It's a project carried out from scratch, which had to be completed in just 2 and a half years, from design to furniture. This project reveals a lot about myself, it's something that seems sophisticated without ever taking itself completely seriously. My biggest challenge in the future would be to move on to staging live art shows. I dream about it.
I celebrate life in all its ramifications, I strive to ensure that beauty is summoned on all its levels. If I walk, I choose the most moving route. If I drive, I choose the road that has the most charm. To summon beauty is to always be in search, in one's inner life as in one's life led outside. Life is not easy and beauty is a help, an enhancer of happiness.
Your favorite themes in your creative approach?
When I create an interior, I first want to tell a story, to myself, then, of course, to my interlocutor.
For my exhibition “Love” which began in November, I imagined this woman, Miss Oops, and a journey of her emotions through the 5 rooms of a staged apartment, in the R&Company gallery in NY. People wander from room to room and become immersed in the emotions of this character. Art cannot take place without narration and love is my favorite theme.
Your reference project?
My house in Provence, isolated in the depths of a vast forest. It combines and expresses with simplicity what I know how to do and what inspires me. It embodies my vision of things and brings together art, interior architecture, decoration, garden, crafts, furniture... It's where I come to recharge my batteries like nowhere else and where I receive my friends, my clients, like in a house of family.
What are your favorite materials, shapes or patterns?
Raw wood in all its species, always solid. Ceramic, which is such a lively and exciting material, infinitely modular, its colors and imperfections create permanent surprises.
Glass and metal.
Your biggest challenge achieved or to be achieved?
The hotel that we will open in December in Méribel is called Le Coucou. It's a project carried out from scratch, which had to be completed in just 2 and a half years, from design to furniture. This project reveals a lot about myself, it's something that seems sophisticated without ever taking itself completely seriously. My biggest challenge in the future would be to move on to staging live art shows. I dream about it.
“I celebrate life in all its ramifications, I strive to ensure that beauty is summoned on all its levels. If I walk, I choose the most moving route. »
Your ritual in your job?
I need exchange, dialogue, with my clients and my teams; you just have to start talking to each other so that everything materializes naturally, by discussing and doodling all together in the same room. This is, I believe, the greatest wealth. I also got into the habit of writing. Write or draw what goes through me... As I travel a lot, I spend this time recounting states, relationships, lives.
The type of interior design that annoys you?
That which does not evolve and which continues to follow fashions. I like taking risks. That's what makes things exciting. But I feel paradoxical in my relationship to objects, between my buying fever and my desire for asceticism. I always try to keep in mind that the material must communicate in an extremely subtle way with the form.
If you weren't an interior designer, what job would you do?
Landscaper or botanist, I love gardening. I find absolute peace when I plant trees, surrounded by my dogs!
A favorite place to usually find yourself?
If I'm not in Provence, then, ideally, I stroll through the gardens of the Palais-Royal in Paris.
Your favorite object? How much does he weigh ?
It's a chandelier by Paavo Tynell, the SnowFlake. A design of incredible visual lightness and yet weighs almost 20 kilos!
What has weight in your life?
Over time, I simply understood that love rules everything.
Your object(s) on le gramme, what is/are they? How do you use the doors/doors?
I wear a 15g ribbon in brushed 925 silver. It is an object whose simplicity touches me, an object with restraint, with obvious sophistication.
If le gramme were a piece of furniture, which one would it be?
Furniture from Swedish Grace. A silver table with a particularly light, graceful and sophisticated look. I think of Uno Arhen.
I need exchange, dialogue, with my clients and my teams; you just have to start talking to each other so that everything materializes naturally, by discussing and doodling all together in the same room. This is, I believe, the greatest wealth. I also got into the habit of writing. Write or draw what goes through me... As I travel a lot, I spend this time recounting states, relationships, lives.
The type of interior design that annoys you?
That which does not evolve and which continues to follow fashions. I like taking risks. That's what makes things exciting. But I feel paradoxical in my relationship to objects, between my buying fever and my desire for asceticism. I always try to keep in mind that the material must communicate in an extremely subtle way with the form.
If you weren't an interior designer, what job would you do?
Landscaper or botanist, I love gardening. I find absolute peace when I plant trees, surrounded by my dogs!
A favorite place to usually find yourself?
If I'm not in Provence, then, ideally, I stroll through the gardens of the Palais-Royal in Paris.
Your favorite object? How much does he weigh ?
It's a chandelier by Paavo Tynell, the SnowFlake. A design of incredible visual lightness and yet weighs almost 20 kilos!
What has weight in your life?
Over time, I simply understood that love rules everything.
Your object(s) on le gramme, what is/are they? How do you use the doors/doors?
I wear a 15g ribbon in brushed 925 silver. It is an object whose simplicity touches me, an object with restraint, with obvious sophistication.
If le gramme were a piece of furniture, which one would it be?
Furniture from Swedish Grace. A silver table with a particularly light, graceful and sophisticated look. I think of Uno Arhen.
“Over time, I simply understood that love governs everything. »
---accumulation---
bracelet_15g_silver-925_brush_smooth_ribbon;bracelet_7g_silver-925_brush_smooth_cable;bracelet_29g_yellow-gold-750_brush_smooth_jonc;bracelet_11g_yellow-gold-750_brush_smooth_cable
