Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/32301
Open House For the first time Alvar Aalto’s original designs for the landmark Maison Louis Carré are on the market. BY RACHEL WOLFF It’s the only private residence in France that Aalto ever built and nothing designed for the home has ever hit the open market—until now. Situated on a grassy swath of land in Bazoches, France, about 150 miles southeast of Paris, Alvar Aalto’s Maison Louis Carré is un- equivocally one of a kind. Carré, a powerful French modern-art dealer, commissioned the home from the Finnish architect-designer in 1956. Aalto broke ground in 1957 and Carré moved in with his third wife in 1959. The bright white geometric estate is now a historic landmark and a living lesson in the sleek and fashion-forward tenets of mid- century Scandinavian architecture and design. Its sloped roof cuts unexpectedly through the green, rolling landscape; its clean, open interiors and curved wooden ceilings made striking statements with- out upstaging Carré’s exquisite collection of modern art (which in- cluded works by Picasso, Léger and Matisse); and every doorknob, every fitting, every piece of furniture, every textile and every light fix- ture was painstakingly designed by Aalto himself (with the help of a handful of trusted collaborators). It’s the only private residence in France that Aalto ever built and nothing designed for the home has ever hit the open market—until now. Paris dealer Eric Philippe, whose right bank gallery specializes in 20th-century Austrian, American, French and Scandinavian design, will offer three extremely rare Aalto lamps at Design Miami/Basel, one of which was originally made for the Maison Louis Carré. Each lamp carries a price tag of about €30,000. They illustrate the many ways in which Aalto was willing to play with form, deviating from tra- ditional models, shapes, silhouettes and lines and creating a visual language all his own. “The Maison Carré pendant lamp is a prototype,” Philippe says. “It was originally designed for the dining room and has five freeform openings. Ultimately, Aalto decided it would be better to have a set of fixtures in there—each with one freeform opening—so this particular piece was sent back to Finland,” where it was held in a private col- lection until recently. Philippe will also exhibit several rare drawings and documents illustrating all of the light fixtures that Aalto designed for the home. But nothing beats seeing the pieces in situ: “Anyone can make an appointment and go visit the building,” he says. “It’s an incredible site and a very important experience to have. As you’ll see, everything else is still there—the lighting, the furniture, everything is untouched.” 48 CULTURED Top: Alvar Aalto designed this pendant lamp as a prototype for the dining room of Maison Louis Carré, seen here. © COLLECTION MAISON LOUIS CARRE; OPPOSITE, COURTESY OF GALERIE ERIC PHILIPPE