Palais Bulles ("Bubble Palace") is a large house in
Théoule-sur-Mer
Théoule-sur-Mer (; Occitan: ''Teula de Mar'' or simply ''Teula''), popularly known as Théoule, is a resort village in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It lies to the east of the ...
, near
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
, France, that was designed by the Hungarian architect
Antti Lovag
Antti Lovag (1920 – 27 September 2014) was a Hungarian architect. He is best known for his Palais Bulles (Bubble House) design. His mother was Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
...
. It was built for the French industrialist
Pierre Bernard, and later bought by the fashion designer
Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardino (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric shap ...
as a holiday home.
History
The 13,000-square-foot house was built between 1975 and 1989 for
Pierre Bernard, a French industrialist. The architect Antti Lovag hated straight lines as "an aggression against nature" and designed the house as a "form of play—spontaneous, joyful, full of surprise".
[Nadja Sayej]
What Will Happen to Pierre Cardin’s Iconic Palais Bulles?
''Architecturaldigest.com'', 12 February 2021
Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardino (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric shap ...
bought the house after Bernard's death in 1991. While Bernard never actually lived in the building, he said "(t)his palace has become my own bit of paradise. Its cellular forms have long reflected the outward manifestations of the image of my creations. It is a museum where I exhibit the works of contemporary designers and artists".
In 2016, a 5-year renovation by the French architect
Odile Decq
Odile Decq (born 1955 in Laval, France) is a French architect, urban planner and academic. She is the founder of the Paris firm, Studio Odile Decq and the architecture school, Confluence Institute. Decq is known for her unique, self-described got ...
was completed.
In March 2017, it was listed for sale with an asking price of €350 million
but did not find a buyer. It could be rented to groups for $33,200 a day.
After the death of Pierre Cardin in December 2020, it has been suggested that the building be turned into a public venue for art expos.
Description
The house comprises a reception hall, panoramic lounge, 500-seat open-air amphitheatre, 10 bedrooms, various swimming pools and waterfalls in extensive landscaped grounds.
The Palais has 29 rooms, 11 bathrooms, and ten bedrooms that have each been decorated by a specific artist, including
Patrice Breteau,
Jerome Tisserand,
Daniel You,
François Chauvin
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, Kin ...
, and
Gerard Cloarec
Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...
.
In the popular culture
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice. With over 100 million recor ...
, the British pop singer and formermember of the band
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
shot the artwork for her 2004 album ''
Free Me'' at the house in the summer of 2003.
The house was featured in ''
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie''.
References
External links
*
Houses in Alpes-Maritimes
Houses completed in 1989
Visionary environments
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