THE OPERA GARNIER RESTAURANT DESIGN BY ODILE DECQ

THE OPERA GARNIER RESTAURANT DESIGN BY ODILE DECQ

THE OPERA GARNIER RESTAURANT DESIGN BY ODILE DECQ

From the architect. Like a « phantom », silent and insidious, the soft protean curves of the mezzanine level float above the dinner guests, covering the space with a surface that bends and undulates.

Creating a new space in the Opera Garnier meant following strict guidelines concerning the historical character of the monument: in order to ensure the possibility of completely removing the project without damage to the existing structure, we were not allowed to touch any of the walls, the pillars, or the ceiling.

The facade of the restaurant is a veil of undulating glass, sliding between each pillar. With no visible structure, the glass is held in place by a single strip of bent steel running along the arched curve of the ceiling. This steel strip is fixed to the upper cornices of the columns 6 meters above the ground with stainless steel connecting rods. The glass is therefore held in place as if « by magic ».
The façade therefore allows for clear views and a minimum impact.

Providing enough floor space to seat 90 people was another requirement for this limited space. The mezzanine was therefore created as a continuous  surface.  Narrow  columns extend upwards towards the molded plaster hull, which curves to form the edges of the handrail. This vessel, which has been slipped under the cupola, is a cloud formation floating between the existing elements of the room without touching them. It’s an allusion to the changing form of the phantom, whose white veil glides surreptitiously in space.

Quietly, almost insidiously, the soft protean curves of the mezzanine cover the space with a volume that arches, undulates, and floats above the guests. The space is open and turned outward.

The keystone of the existing dome remains visible from the ground floor, while suddenly becoming very close to the diners on the upper level. Sitting close to the stone arches of the ceiling, the symmetry of the cupola is no longer apparent, the reference points change, and sense perception of the space is altered. In the curve of the hull above, immersed in warm red tones, the upper level becomes an intimate and private space.

The red carpeting flows down the steps of the main staircase dramatically, spreading out into the center of the black floor below, and running under the tables until it arrives at the edge of the facade.

At the back of the room, in the area closest to the entrance  to  the  Opera,  the  space becomes more protected and private, contrasting with the whiteness of the rest of the room. Long red booths line this space, creating the « lounge » area for the restaurant. At the outside edge of the lounge, a long black bar snakes around a nearby column.

The design for this project is based around creating a space that will highlight the restaurant inside the Opera Garnier, without mimicking the existing monument, but respecting it while affirming its truly contemporary character.

http://www.archdaily.com/476883/the-opera-garnier-restaurant-studio-odile-decq/?utm_source=ArchDaily+List&utm_campaign=b86c6cee49-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5a382da72-b86c6cee49-408071225

ODILE DECQ

Odile Decq set up her own office just after graduating from La Villette in 1978

while studying from Sciences Politiques Paris where she completed a postgraduate

diploma in Urban Planning in 1979. International renown came quickly; as early as 1990 she won her first major commission: the Banque Populaire de l’Ouest in Rennes recognized by numerous prizes and publications. She was awarded with a Golden Lion in Venice in 1996. Since then, Odile Decq has been faithful to her fighting attitude while diversifying and radicalizing her research.

She completed the MACRO (Museum for Contemporary Art in Rome) in 2010,

the Opera Garnier’s restaurant in Paris in 2011, the FRAC (Museum of

Contemporary Art in Rennes) in 2012 and just completed the GL Events

headquarters in Lyon.

But more than the realization of the Studio Odile Decq, more than a style, an attitude or a process of production, Odile Decq’s work is a complete universe, including urban planning, architecture, design products and art. A versatility that is awarded in 2013 with the title of Designer of the Year Maison&Objet.

Recently Odile Decq was awarded the Woman in Architecture prize “Prix Femme

Architecte”.

www.odiledecq.com

VERNER PANTON AT VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM

VERNER PANTON AT VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM

BACKGROUND: VISIONA 1970 - REVISITING THE FUTURE

February 07,2014 – June 01,2014

VERNER PANTON AT VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM

BACKGROUND: VISIONA 1970 - REVISITING THE FUTURE

February 07,2014 – June 01,2014

From 1968 to 1972, the chemical corporation Bayer rented an excursion boat that was transformed by well-known designers into a temporary exhibition space on the subject of contemporary living. Held during the Cologne Furniture Fair, the forum was used to present the latest developments in interior textiles, whereby a balanced relationship was sought between representing various products and presenting several furniture and textile makers. By collaborating with prominent contemporary designers, the intention was to complement the technical possibilities and practical uses of Bayer’s artificial fibers with aesthetic and artistic aspects – with the designer serving as a link between manufacturer and final consumer. Thanks to Verner Panton (»Visiona 0«, 1968 and »Visiona 2«, 1970), Joe Colombo (»Visiona 1«, 1969) and Olivier Mourgue (»Visiona 3«, 1971), the »Visiona« exhibitions are still today considered exemplary for the avant-garde living concepts of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They offered designers a platform for presenting new, revolutionary ideas, promoted public debate and the cultural importance of residential living, and provided the industry with new inspiration. Verner Panton’s interest in new materials and his experience in the realm of textiles formed the ideal foundation for his pioneering designs of »Visiona 0« (1968) and »Visiona 2« (1970). He created dreamlike spaces and space-like dreams in unusual shapes and colors that stretched across the entire interior of the boat. While »Visiona 0« could be described as a departure from traditional styles of living, »Visiona 2« was entirely focused on the question of living in the world of tomorrow. It broke the traditional understanding of space with its clear ascription of functions, instead creating surroundings that were dedicated to well being, communication, and relaxation. For this, Panton designed numerous design objects, including furniture, textiles, lighting, wall and ceiling coverings that formed in highly imaginative arrangements a series of very different spaces. As an integrative component, he developed both a lighting concept and atmospheric sounds for the individual spaces, like the song of a nightingale, the cry of an owl, bee humming, cat howls, or waves. The Phantasy Landscape (also called »living cave«) on the main deck of the »Loreley« – generally remembered as the most impressive space of »Visiona 2« – can be considered the climax of Panton’s
creative vision. This room discarded all traditional notions of architecture: the floors, walls, ceilings, and furniture seemed to be created from a single cast. The windowless space lacked any connection to the outside world and presented itself as an organic landscape, characterised by dynamic curved shapes that seemed as though they were cut out of the material itself. The elements in various shades of blue and red were like a multiplication of his famous Living Towers placed after one another: the blue shades on the outside, the red shades increasingly becoming brighter on the inside, so that the psychedelic arrangement appeared to glow from within. While the designs of Panton’s contemporaries often evoked associations with outer space, Panton’s livable sculpture with its warm colors and soft textiles sought to bring the interior life of the human being to an outer form.

http://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailseiten/visiona.html

PHANTASY LANDSCAPE - VISIONA 2 - IMM Köln

Möbelmesse / Cologne Furniture Fair, 1970

© Panton Design, Basel

PANTON CHAIR 1959 -1960

VP4 FLOWERPOT LAMP

PANTORAMA 1979

PAUL HENNIGSEN COMPETITION 1964

PANTORAMA 1979

PHANTASY LANDSCAPE - VISIONA 2 - 

IMM Köln Möbelmesse / Cologne Furniture Fair, 1970

© Panton Design, Basel

LIVING TOWER 1969

AMOEBE HIGHBACK 1970

AMOEBE 1970

PHANTASY LANSCAPE - VISIONA 2

Wall elements (1969, produced by Harlacher)

Cologne Furniture Fair, 1970 © Panton Design, Basel

PENDANT LAMP VP GLOBE 1969 – 1970

CLOVER LEAF SOFA

PHANTASY LANSCAPE - VISIONA 2

Spiral lights (1969, produced by Lübner)

IMM Cologne Furniture Fair, 1970 © Panton Design, Basel

SPIEGEL PUBLISHING HOUSE 1969

SPIEGEL LAMP 1969-70

PHANTASY LANSCAPE - VISIONA 2

EXHIBITION KOEBESTAEVNET 1959

CONE CHAIR 1958

COPENHAGEN CIRCUS BUILDING 1984

PHANTOM CHAIR

VARNA RESTAURANT 1971

PANTO FOUR 1997

PANTO MOVE LUPO

PANTO STACK 1998

PANTO SWING 2K

PANTO SWING 1994

COMPASS LUPO

HEART CONE CHAIR 1959

COLOGNE FURNITURE FAIR 1960 

WIRE CONE CHAIR 1958

PHANTASY LANSCAPE - VISIONA 2 – 1970

VERNER PANTON

Verner Panton, born 1926 in Gamtofte, Denmark, studied at Odense Technical College before enrolling at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen as an architecture student. 

He worked from 1950-52 in the architectural firm of Arne Jacobsen, and founded an independent studio for architecture and design in 1955. His furniture designs for the firm Plus-linje attracted attention with their geometric forms. In the following years Panton created numerous designs for seating furniture and lighting. 

His passion for bright colours and geometric patterns manifested itself in an extensive range of textile designs. By fusing the elements of a room—floor, walls, ceiling, furnishings, lighting, textiles, wall panels made of enamel or plastic—into a unified gesamtkunstwerk, Panton's interior installations have attained legendary status. The most famous examples are the "Visiona" ship installations for the Cologne Furniture Fair (1968 and 1970), the Spiegel publishing headquarters in Hamburg (1969) and the Varna restaurant in Aarhus (1970). 

Panton's collaboration with Vitra began in the early 1960s, when the firm decided to develop what became his best-known design, the Panton Chair, which was introduced in 1967. This was also the first independently developed product by Vitra. 

Verner Panton died in 1998 in Copenhagen. Vitra's re-edition of designs by Panton, as well as the retrospective of his work mounted by the Vitra Design Museum in 2000, bear witness to the special relationship between Vitra and Verner Panton.

http://www.vitra.com/en-un/corporation/designer/details/97695