By Roberto Franzoni
From Jean Nouvel to Marc Newson, the young belgian architect, born in Africa and now working in Paris, following his own cultural path has acquired a particular sensibility for the japanese world and the quintessential forms of its culture, clearly embodied in Armani's Tokyo Spa
His studio is in the Marais, the ancient heart of Paris, just a few steps away from the Centre Pompidou and Notre Dame. Belgian by nationality, he was born in Africa, where he spent his childhood and adolescence in various countries on the continent, and he is very keen to retain his national identity. He graduated in architecture from the École d'Architecture of Paris Belleville. Shortly after graduating he developed a close relationship with the architect and scientist Pierre Debeaux, culminating in the writing of a book about him. He has remained a pure architect, untouched by other disciplines such as product design.
He began by working in Jean Nouvel's office on the project for an office tower in Frankfurt, and above all the striking Beijing Opera House in 1997.
Over the last ten years he had the opportunity to work on cutting edge interior design project and recently he has returned to full-scale architecture, working on volumes, spaces and buildings.
The apartment in Paris that we present in these pages belongs to an architect and designer, with whom Segers has formed a professional partnership which brought both together to create a number of works, such as the Hotel Puerta America in Madrid and the Qantas lounges in Sydney and Melbourne airports. The house abounds with famous pieces of Italian design. "This is the client's choice," said Segers, "as he is a collector of Italian design."
His own sensibility and interest is largely focused on the Japanese world, the simplicity of its forms and material culture.
An example is the space of the Armani spa in Tokyo, built in 2007, on the fifth floor of the Ginza Tower. The client's objective was to create a space for relaxation combining the culture of water widespread in Japan with the fashion house's elevated image of creativity. He wanted to recreate the almost magical atmosphere of the fashion designer's atelier, combining the idea of luxury with the restrained elegance that has always distinguished Armani.
"This is the first designer-styled beauty center in Tokyo," commented Giorgio Armani. Segers has managed to blend Japanese culture, Italian style and sophisticated materials, elegant and at the same time simple, creating a synthesis that expresses exotic atmospheres in accordance with the brand's origin.
The claim recently coined by Furrer is "No marble, cheap building." Do you believe that only stone can ennoble a building? I certainly don't want to argue the claim! I have the utmost respect for Furrer and the company's extraordinary achievements over seventy years. I am utterly fascinated by natural materials and the craft skills used in working it. I find these qualities in marble, in stone, and also in wood and leather. In all these materials, no matter what the design, craftsmanship is the quality that stands out. It is the extraordinary product of handiwork. I designed a restaurant with Marc in a skyscraper in New York from the early 1950s. It was still a building with "human" characteristics, a man-made artifact, fashioned using his hands, before construction was industrialized. Which building was it? Lever House by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owing and Merrils, at 390 Park Avenue. It dates from 1952, has only twenty-four floors and since 1982 has been an official New York landmark. When did you first visit Carrara? It was ten years ago. I was deeply impressed by these mountains. But also by the lardo of Colonnata! I was enchanted by the stories of these quarries. I became fascinated by the color of the marble, which I have been told is not only white, but red, colored by the blood of those who work in these mountains... Once again a testament to courage, tenacity and the human passion for natural materials. When did you first use marble in your work? For the bar counter in the Hotel Puerta America in Madrid, designed by Marc Newson. The counter is 8 meters long. Between the client, Marc and me we wagered that we would make it out of a single piece of marble! Marc took the challenge seriously. We visited the quarry of Furrer and found a 32-ton block of veined Statuary marble which the company's workers succeeded in quarrying with extraordinary skill. From it we derived our single carved slab weighing 8 tons. The slab was transported at night, due to its incredible size, on two trucks, one behind the other to help brake when going downhill. An incredible experience! In Madrid, the slab was installed before the completion of the facade, otherwise it would never have been possible to get it inside the building.
Do you favor any particular marble? A particular color or kind of veining?
To tell the truth, my favorite color is the black of Belgian Black. It is a stone difficult to work with, easy to chip, but fascinating in its compactness. Naturally everything depends on the design. I've used not only the veined Statuary marble I mentioned above but also Travertine, because it suited the house in Paris, or striped Olympic marble. Light colors, with veining that had affinities with those projects. Also I have a great interest for the quartzite of Vals, Switzerland. What's your next project? It is a landmark building in the heart of Paris, with partner architect Laurent Goudchaux. We will install a facade of Carrara marble covering about 1000 square meters, complete with broad mirrored windows 8 meters long. The distinctive feature is that the facade will look like a single piece of marble. When will work be starting? In November this year, and we expect to complete it within eighteen months. Other work in progress? New concept stores for Christian Dior. We completed the prototype in Paris and now with the same architecture we will be creating various stores around the world, especially in Asia. A private house on the island of Ithaca, Greece. With Marc Newson we are also designing other lounges for Qantas in different parts of the world. In the first two lounges in Sydney and Melbourne we used both White Carrara and veined Statuary marble. Marble helped to create high quality spaces, but also a special atmosphere of relaxation and well-being, which is what long-haul travelers, the users of these lounges, expect to help them relax between flights. Carrara is a source of marble, but it is also a center of manufacturing and distribution for marble with the capacity to work stone from around the world... It's considered the Wall Street of marble! Have you found similar set-ups elsewhere around the world? Definitely not. You can find great stones in various countries, but never the same capacity to work it and meet the needs of the architect. Do you feel there's still a great future for marble? I certainly do. Over the past thirty years marble has been used increasingly in both interiors and unexpectedly in design. Marc Newson launched a new trend in designing with marble. But I think a great future in architecture will continue to be there, because new applications and techniques are being developed to make it even more fascinating and more adaptable to the most advanced and sophisticated projects. In Madrid at Puerta America you used a whole block. But today marble is lighter and you can fabricate very thin sheets, with the right supports. Does this help produce the same result but with less material and less weight? I think it ought to be used for specific purposes, such as ships or yachts. We do integrate aircraft engineering design in our architecture, but enanched the depth and solidity of the marble, and personally I prefer depth and solidity.
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