The favored architect for some of Europe’s most discerning art collectors and cultural institutions, Olivier Dwek is famously discreet. However, with the publication of his new monograph, In the Light of Modernity, the Brussels-based design maestro finally presents a broad and engaging glance at his poetic interiors.
Shortly before launching his namesake firm in 2000, Dwek got his big break at age 28, revamping a Brussels boutique for Louis Vuitton. He has developed a preternatural ability to dream up visually arresting interiors with surprising origin stories in the ensuing years.
His distinct point of view is richly evident throughout the book. For example, in a triplex outside of Paris, the concept centers on a massive aluminum table by acclaimed Belgian craftsman Ado Chale, one of Dwek’s design heroes. The striking piece sparked the residence’s silvery color palette, which Dwek then expanded upon with an array of high-octane furnishings by Pierre Jeanneret, India Mahdavi, and Charlotte Perriand, not to mention knockout artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, George Condo, and Louise Lawler.
Dwek’s architectural bona fides are showcased in Greece. He conceived a pair of houses that put a modernist spin on the aesthetic of the traditional sugar-cube villages that dot the surrounding islands, evoking familiar forms but articulated with sharp lines, larger volumes, and more sunlight.
His strange skill for creating harmony out of seemingly odd art and design pieces brightens a historic Brussels edifice that he gut renovated for a vintage American and Scandinavian furniture collector. “The inspiration here is 20th-century modernism—but reinterpreted,” Dwek notes of the former industrial space, which is now anchored by a 450-square-foot marble wall.
The client had a desire to bring strong materials to offset the cold greenstone. The resulting interiors feature scarlet Jean Royère armchairs, warm wood pieces by George Nakashima, and hypnotic canvases by Richard Prince and Robert Motherwell.
These residences represent just a handful of intriguing projects presented in the monograph, and with the book complete, Dwek is already on to new endeavors. “Inspiration is a lifetime’s work,” he says. “It takes years to form a beady and cultivated eye.”
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