< PreviousAR E N A/ B ru s sel s RENCH INTERIOR DESIGNER PIERRE Y O V ANO VIT CH avows more than a hint of reverence for craftsmanship. “If you want a creation not to look industrial, you’re obliged to work with artisans,” he asserts. Over the past decade, he has built up close relationships with several, including master carpenter Pierre-Eloi Bris, with whom he worked on the zigzag-like sofa in the living room of one of his lat- est projects — a six-bedroom house in an elegant Belgian enclave. Its complex structure was assembled with neither glue nor nails. “It’s very Pierre Yovano- vitch,” he enthuses. He can use his own name as an adjective because his style is un- mistakable. The words he uses most regularly to describe it are sim- plicity and sophistication. Its fundamental components include furnishings by 20th-century Scandinavian masters like Axel Einar Hjorth and Paavo Tynell, and a graphic architectural approach. All are in evidence in the Belgian house, built in 1910 for an aris- tocratic family and transformed into offi ces 50 years later. It had polystyrene drop ceilings but neither a kitchen nor full bathrooms when fi rst viewed by its current owners (he is a private-equity in- vestor; she runs a foundation in Indonesia). “The whole house had lost its soul,” she laments. “Nobody even wanted to come and take F AD_033_78-85_Arena_Brussels_11264673.indd 8024/06/2020 09:58:21 PMABOVE: The fi rst fl oor houses the reception and living areas as well as this family room, which makes for a cosy communal space OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: The atrium features a mirror artwork by Jonathan Horowitz hung above a two-piece bench by Pierre Yovanovitch; the custom skylight by Yovanovitch throws coloured patterns into the stairwell, with sconces of his own design. AR E N A/ B ru s sel s 81 AD_033_78-85_Arena_Brussels_11264673.indd 8124/06/2020 09:58:34 PMIn the living room, a Viggo Boesen chair sits adjacent to an angular sofa by Pierre Yovanovitch. Sculpture by Philippe Hiquily. An artwork by David Altmejd hangs over the travertine fi replace. The Mongolfi era fl oor lamp is by Paola Napoleone. AD_033_78-85_Arena_Brussels_11264673.indd 8224/06/2020 09:58:46 PM83 AR E N A/ B ru s sel s AD_033_78-85_Arena_Brussels_11264673.indd 8324/06/2020 09:58:56 PM“ It’s just brilliant. People say it looks like the Guggenheim Museum ” AD_033_78-85_Arena_Brussels_11264673.indd 8424/06/2020 09:59:05 PMthe surviving fi replaces for free.” All that remains of the original structure today is the graceful brick façade. Yovanovitch’s redesign of the home’s interior features a huge picture window for the kitch- en, while the most striking element inside is the majestic spiral staircase that winds its way up three stories and is topped by a geo- metric stained-glass skylight at its zenith. “It’s just brilliant,” gush- es the wife. “People say it looks like the Guggenheim Museum.” The clients, who have four adult sons, were drawn to Yovano- vitch not just for his architectural prowess but also by his efforts to get a fi rm understanding of their requirements and lifestyle. The entire third fl oor is reserved exclusively for the sons, with three bedrooms, a bathroom, a sitting room and a terrace in place; the couple’s private sanctuary and more bathing areas are located on the second fl oor; the fi rst fl oor houses the reception and living are- as as well as a family room, which makes for a loving, communal space; another terrace and a kitchen are placed on the ground fl oor; and a newly built 15-metre swimming pool and utility rooms are found in the basement. “They’re really into entertaining, are very convivial and family- oriented,” notes Yovanovitch. They also share a number of his tastes. They already owned the Hjorth rocking chair and occasional table in the second-fl oor library, and are fellow collectors of the sculptures of Stephan Balkenhol. At times, some of their requests pushed Yovanovitch out of his comfort zone. For the family room next to the street-level kitchen, they demanded a dining table and sofa. “Having both in the same space perturbs me,” he admits. “For me, each room should have a specifi c function.” They also craved more color than habitually seen in his projects and insisted on hanging a 17th-century Japa- nese screen in the dining room. “It’s not something Pierre would normally use,” admits the wife. One area in which Yovanovitch excels is in his use of intriguing yet understated materials, as witnessed by the gouged oak doors and chiseled walnut bookshelves, the nubby fabrics, and textured plasterwork of the library fi replace. Then there is the bar, with its rugged larch wood and Cordoba leather walls. It was inspired by both modernist architect Adolf Loos and the fi lm Casablanca. “Every time he joined me for a meeting with Pierre, it was the only space we talked about,” says the wife with a laugh. Still, she is the fi rst to admit the result is pretty spectacular: “The only bad thing is that when people go in there, they never want to go home.” Pierreyovanovitch.com ABOVE FROM LEFT: The Casablanca-inspired bar has leather niches; custom seating in the travertine-covered master bath. OPPOSITE PAGE: A custom fi replace surround and walnut bookshelves are built to the curvature of the walls in the library. The Vintage rocking chair is by Axel Einar Hjorth and the fl oor lamp is a Svend Aage Holm Sørensen design. The bust is a Henry Moore. AR E N A/ B ru s sel s 85 AD_033_78-85_Arena_Brussels_11264673.indd 8524/06/2020 09:59:15 PMHIGH FLYER AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 8624/06/2020 10:01:06 PMWords Graham Wood Photography Greg Cox From the pool pavilion, the John Lautner-inspired architecture of the top-fl oor living area and main bedroom is evident in the ribbon-like concrete formations. INSPIRED BY THE HEAD Y , FUTURIS TIC AES THETIC OF 6 0S AND 7 0S LA MODERNISM, THIS HOME INJEC T S SOME OF THE ERA ’ S GLAMOUR AND POOL SIDE LIFES TYLE INT O PRESENT -D A Y CAPE T O WN AR E N A/ C a pe T o wn 87 AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 8724/06/2020 10:01:14 PMAR E N A/ Melbour ne o VERL OOKING THE A TLANTIC OCEAN ON CAPE T O WN’ S NET TLET ON RIDGE IS A VISION THA T MIGHT MAKE Y O U THINK FOR A MOMENT THA T Y O U’D ENTERED A P ARALLEL UNIVER SE. You could be looking at a Bond villain’s lair, something out of The Jetsons or Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion from the Iron Man franchise. And you wouldn’t be far off – the retro-futuristic home of mining banker Lloyd Pengilly has its roots in the same US west-coast architecture that inspired all of these fi lm- ic fantasies, particularly the work of John Lautner. Perhaps the most famous of Lautner’s designs is the Elrod House in Palm Springs, which is featured in James Bond’s Diamonds Are Forever. Another, the Sheats Gold- stein House, pops up in The Big Lebowski. They’re LA party pads, rising organically from their rocky mountain- sides, their interiors fusing with their vast views: part stone sculpture, part fl ying machine. The Pengilly residence has a similar kind of sculptural presence, at once futuristic and primal. Its swooping curves and contours evoke the Jet Age: that optimistic, short-lived time when airports were glamorous, when space travel had captured the world’s imagination, and when cars spelled freedom. It was a time when techno- logical advancement and style crystallised and found ex- pression in an aesthetic that was fi lled with daring and a sense of possibility. David Peerutin of Cape Town fi rm Peerutin Architects explains that Lloyd and his son Hanno didn’t want just another ‘box-like structure that stood in opposition to its site’, so one of his main challenges was to design a large house – the 90-metre wide, 20-metre-deep site is unique in the neighbourhood – that wouldn’t impose on the landscape. Instead, they decided to mimic the undulating forms of surrounding hillsides and the bottom two levels of the four-storey house are clad in stone. In contrast, the two upper levels, containing all the liv- ing, entertaining and sleeping spaces were designed as ‘a light, sculptural group of free-forms that weave indoors and outdoors together,’ says Peerutin who worked close- ly with Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens (SRLC), who were responsible for the interior architecture and design. From the street, you enter the house through a copper- clad sliding door and a lobby, then climb a spiral staircase up to the next level, with an entertainment area, indoor On the top level, a sunken lounge looks out over the ocean. The curved leather sofa is by SRLC. The Beat fl oor lamp is by Tom Dixon and the brass-and -marble side table is vintage 1970s. The glass Bell table by Sebastian Herkner for ClassiCon. AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 8824/06/2020 10:01:25 PMAR E N A/ C a pe T o wn 89 AD_033_86-95_Arena_Cape Town_11270165.indd 8924/06/2020 10:01:37 PMNext >