Robert Mallet-Stevens, Hyeres, France, 1923-1925
OfHouses guest curated by Bart Lootsma : “Mallet Stevens’ Villa in Noailles inspired me to do my diploma thesis on Mallet-Stevens – even if I let it be because I was so lucky to get an even more interesting subject thrown at me with the archives of the Philips Pavilion I found. (…) Most houses –but not all- went through a careful but adventurous mediatisation in a book or films arranged by the architects themselves or their interesting clients, turning them into built manifestoes or philosophical and artistic contemplations. The villa for the count of Noailles is a good example of that. Apart from the fact that the count was an important collector, avant-garde art was integrated in the building, like the Flower Room by Theo van Doesburg, or put the building itself in a wider context, as in the Film ‘Un Coup des Dés’ by Man Ray. The different gardens belonging to it are marvelous, the garden by Guevrekian groundbreaking.”
