Villa Paul Poiret
Encyclopedia
Villa Paul Poiret in Mézy-sur-Seine
, Yvelines
, France
, is an early 1920s Cubism
-inspired, and later Art Deco
, private house originally designed by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens
.
The house stands in 48,500 m² of parkland in Mézy-sur-Seine, to the west of Paris, overlooking the Seine Valley. It is constructed in reinforced concrete
to a geometric style, has 25 rooms on three levels, 800 m² of internal space, an upper terrace with panoramic views, and a 7-metre-tall corner salon with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Villa Paul Poiret was commissioned by fashion designer Paul Poiret
in 1921; its building completed in 1925. The house fell into disrepair, and was sold by Poiret in 1930 to actress Elvira Popescu
, who lived there from 1938 to 1985. Popescu hired the architect Paul Boyer in 1932 to alter the original design to the contemporary Art Deco Paquebot (steamship) style, converting windows to portholes, and rounding-off terrace corners. The house was listed as an historic landmark in 1984.
In 1999 the house, which had once more become dilapidated, was bought by Laurent Brun. Under the auspices of the French National Historic Landmark Commission and the Bâtiments de France, (the two bodies responsible for listed buildings,) the Mallet-Stevens exterior and the Popescu/Boyer interior have been restored.
Villa Paul Poiret is part of the Journées de Patrimoine, (Heritage Days,) scheme in which public and private buildings of historic importance are open to the public on the third weekend in September.
Mézy-sur-Seine
Mézy-sur-Seine is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-References:*...
, Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, is an early 1920s Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
-inspired, and later Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, private house originally designed by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens
Robert Mallet-Stevens
Robert Mallet-Stevens was a French architect and designer. Along with Le Corbusier he is widely regarded as the most influential figure in French architecture in the period between the two World Wars....
.
The house stands in 48,500 m² of parkland in Mézy-sur-Seine, to the west of Paris, overlooking the Seine Valley. It is constructed in reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
to a geometric style, has 25 rooms on three levels, 800 m² of internal space, an upper terrace with panoramic views, and a 7-metre-tall corner salon with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Villa Paul Poiret was commissioned by fashion designer Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret was a French fashion designer. His contributions to twentieth-century fashion have been likened to Picasso's contributions to twentieth-century art.-Early life and career:...
in 1921; its building completed in 1925. The house fell into disrepair, and was sold by Poiret in 1930 to actress Elvira Popescu
Elvira Popescu
Elvira Popescu was a Romanian-born French stage and movie actress and theatre director.-Life and career:Born in Bucharest, Popescu studied drama at the Conservatorul de Artă Dramatică, under the guidance of Constantin Nottara and Aristizza Romanescu. She made her debut at the National Theatre...
, who lived there from 1938 to 1985. Popescu hired the architect Paul Boyer in 1932 to alter the original design to the contemporary Art Deco Paquebot (steamship) style, converting windows to portholes, and rounding-off terrace corners. The house was listed as an historic landmark in 1984.
In 1999 the house, which had once more become dilapidated, was bought by Laurent Brun. Under the auspices of the French National Historic Landmark Commission and the Bâtiments de France, (the two bodies responsible for listed buildings,) the Mallet-Stevens exterior and the Popescu/Boyer interior have been restored.
Villa Paul Poiret is part of the Journées de Patrimoine, (Heritage Days,) scheme in which public and private buildings of historic importance are open to the public on the third weekend in September.
Further reading
- Le Petit Futé Yvelines: Nouvelles Editions de l'Université (26 Nov 2010); ISBN-10: 2746929694, ISBN-13: 978-2746929692;
- Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673-1968: Cambridge University Press (18 April 2005), ISBN-10: 0521793068, ISBN-13: 978-0521793063.