A R C H I T E C T A T W O R K
What res t r i c t ions are common in the res taurant i ndus t r y, wi t h wh i ch you a r e f ami l i a r, hav i ng carr ied out many projects and notably for the chef Guy Savoy ? It is a bit of a mystery: why you feel comfortable or not in a restaurant? I don’t have an answer. I think we have an atmosphere. We designed many of the elements ourselves for this restaurant. And f inal ly, here are two quotat ions at tr ibuted to Margaret of Valoi s . What are your thought s on them? "The scandal is often worse than the sin": without a doubt. I am not a controversial subject, my work rather consists of consensus, only the Quai Branly Russian Cathedral had one detractor... "You can dry your tears, but your heart, never": that is lovely, let’s hope indeed that you can’t dry your heart.
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“WE HAVE IMAGINED AN ENTIRE SERIES OF
QUOTATIONS, MATERIALS, ICONOGRAPHY, LOGOS IN HOMMAGE TO THE REINE MARGOT.”
Yo u r p r o p o s i t i o n i s a b a l a n c e b e t w e e n contemporane i ty and hi s tor i cal references , how do you manage to do that? We created a building in a park, connected to the main building by underground passage. We will put newly created rooms in it. The "anarchical" part will be housed in the existing building where we will use the volumes to their best advantage, while keeping the memory of the site alive, the presence of the 17 th and 18 th centuries. We have imagined an entire series of quotations, materials, iconography, logos in homage to the Reine Margot. This is translated through portraits, ruff motifs as well as embossed designs, molding, and on carpets. We‘ve found images of antique plants that we have sandblasted onto wood. The very simple rooms, essentially in oak, will be very interesting. We are also working on the conception of a vegetable garden inspired by a drawing from the 19 th century: we are planting hedges. Then, there is the exquisite little chapel that will become a bar. All of this comes out of close collaboration with the architects of the French National Monuments and National Heritage. We listen to them and constructive dialogue ensues.
JEAN-MICHEL WILMOTTE IN A FEW RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Ongoing • Design of the UN head office, Diamniadio, Senegal. • Construction of the Terraces of the Presqu’Ile, Lyon, France. 2019 • Scenography for the Gio Ponti exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France. 2018 • Construction of Convention Center of Metz, France. 2017 • Transformation of the Halle Freyssinet on the start-up campus Station F, Paris, France. 2016 • Architecture of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Culture Center, Paris, France. 2015 • Redevelopment and museology of the Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon. • Architecture of the office building Kings Cross Central, Google headquarters, London, Great Britain.
PRACTICAL INFORMATIONS ON THE DOMAINE DE LA REINE MARGOT Opening: End of year 2021 How many rooms? 83
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