The architect has defined new definitions to the conception of cheerful on her new project – a villa in Costa Azul allying happiness and color.
India Mahdavi used to travel since she was a kid which, naturally, expand her horizons and impact the way she perceive the world, and sharpen her eyes to the more special and unique places. She used to move around with her family from her father’s origin country, Iran, United States, passing by Germany and ending in France with her parents and brothers, where this bright and unique Costa Azul was built.
A place full of light and color, green grass and the breeze from the sea only a couple kilometers away which according to the artist when she thinks about it, brings her happiness involved on the memories. Currently, she is living in Paris, where this winter, the decorative arts museum will be showcased her hand-made objects, and in which she will be responsible for the scenography of some popular French draws.
The light is the queen of it all
More than the looks, Provenza is the stage of a big cultural explosion to explore that can be extremely tempting to some artsy kids at some point in their lives such as Raoul Dufy, Marc Chagall y Henri Matisse that used to live in Vence just like India Mahdavi. As proof of the occurred, there are still some designs around such as the Chapelle du Rosaire, a masterpiece from Matisse, an artist that India confess to has as an inspiration and always have influenced her on the way she perceives the light on her vision of color and, in the end, is all about finding a good lightening.
The architect returned to this positioning when a family friend requested her to redesign his vacation home nearby the Niza’s airport and the dock of Saint Laurent du Var. His house had 5 bedrooms with an outstanding view over the sea and surrounded by nature where the owner dreamt about staying there for a while with his family and friends along with the pool, a desire that to be attended requested an original draft different from the original structure built in the ’80s and changed to adapt the place to the owner new needs.
The colors and the hand-made objects are the soul of the party
In this design in Costa Azul, the architect used some exuberant and involving colors but also a lot of hand-made objects, elements that along the way have become part of her personal signature, especially on hotels, stores, and villas designed by her in Costa Azul. The artist expresses that she does not want to only play with the light but make people feel something while admiring her creation.
On the contrary to the more classic and immaculate villas that for a good while were in vogue because of Rory Cameron, Humbert de Givenchy among others, she aims to truly visually renovate the space with different materials, textures, and graphic elements that can be allied with the light and create something unique.
Art is everywhere
The good and welcoming vibes are present everywhere in this villa in Costa Azul starting with the tile floor creating some draws in the living and dining room until even the bedrooms combining the terracotta tiles with some white ones to create contrast and some shadow and light effect.
On the main bathroom, were used some Moroccan traditional tiles, green and white to recreate the design of the straight line contrasting with the overall environment and the colorful crystal doors and bringing her inspiration, Matisse’s soul, to the work almost even Dionisio . Merging it with some other arts such as the “seta mágica” from the garden, a Carsten Höller sculpture that reproduces in big scale fly agaric with polka dots, one of the owner’s contemporary art pieces.
As a drawer, India could choose between the furniture saved on the storage where she could get some contemporary gems from José Zanine Caldas, Hans Wagner, Tito Agnoli and T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. The rest of the pieces were designed by herself like, for instance, the tables and the chairs with curvy formats that reinforce the nostalgic feeling from the terracotta that reminds her of the earth from the garden and the wall of her house. On the dining space, the ashlar Cap Martim, with some siting areas and embroidered patches rounding the table with oceanic propositions later called double diagonal regarding the starfish on the base.
Besides that, the architect adds some vintage objects on this Costa Azul design, from the Emilio Terry blue armchairs in the hall with some Ettore Sottsass wood cabinets, adding also red velvet cushions mid-century bench on the dining room from the Turin school that reminds vaguely the church benches.
The chromatic scheme in this Costa Azul project has clearly inspired nature: the solo, the grass, the sea, the sky, the sun and the hand-made local that according to her perceive the south like no other. Caroline Denervaud, a swiss painter that currently live in Paris spent a week painting a mural that projects “la puerta del sol del Mediterraneo” that was displayed behind the rattan bar cabinet. The panoramic rugs near the pool were a masterpiece designed by Giuseppe Ducrot, being like a flash of yellow light from the ground and directing attention to one of the rooms.
There is only a thing that the designer regrets – not including a familiar Costa Azul kitchen as the hearth of the home although the owner wanted a professional one. Although, besides that, she confessed she is proud of herself, gave everything the owner ever wanted, light, color resulting in a cheerful and fresh environment. All the goals she achieved.
Source: Architecture Digest
