Shape Of Things To Come

Tapping into chic past and present, interiors master Jacques Hervouet helmed an epic quest to radically reinvent this apartment.

- Ian Phillips

The brief was clear. When the owner of this Paris apartment on the Left Bank asked Jacques Hervouet to redecorate it, she avowed a profound desire for change. “She told me, ‘I want it to be radically different. I want there to be nothing that reminds me of how it was before’,” says Jacques. He certainly took her at her word. The 230-square-meter space had been done out in typical

Haussmannian style, with chevron parquet, lots of moldings and elaborate ceiling decorations, but little in the way of decorating flair. Jacques recalls a traditional bathroom wrapped in Carrara marble and sofas “a little in the style of Christian Liaigre”. With the help of architect Odile Burnod, he completely pared down the architectural vernacular, removing all the florid touches, re-dimensioning doorways and merging the kitchen and dining room into one.

He then came up with some rather audacious proposals, the most intrepid of which was his suggestion of an almost futuristic scheme inspired by the iconic decor seen in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey for the entry hall. It consists of lacquered wall panels inscribed with large diamonds and fitted with strips of LED lights, as well as wall-to-wall carpet boasting a crisscross motif. Jacques sees the effect as highly kinetic. “I wanted to test my client to see how far she was willing to go,” he says. “There’s something quasi-mystical about the result. You feel almost as if you’re in a chapel.”