Robert Couturier (born 1955) is a French architect and decorator best known for designing Cuixmala, an eco-luxury resort that was formerly the estate of British-French billionaire

Sir James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier, tycoon''Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith'' by Ivan Fallon and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His contr ...

Biography

A graduate, the

École Camondo The École Camondo is a five-year private school of product design and interior architecture located in Paris, France, which was created in 1944 and was recognized by the French Ministry of Education in 1989. It is named after the Camondo family, ...

, in Paris, with a degree in interior architecture and design, Robert Couturier moved to New York in 1981. He quickly established his own practice, which has been recognized in prestigious annual lists of the best decorators and architectural firms by Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, 1stDibs, and House and Garden, among others. In June 2012, Elle Decor included Couturier in its A-list Top 60 Designers, and British House & Garden named him one of the top 10 foreign decorators. In 2021,

Architectural Digest ''Architectural Digest'' is an American monthly magazine founded in 1920. Its principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The magazine is published by Condé Nast, which also publishes internati ...

inducted Couturier into the AD100 Hall of Fame. In 1987, a relatively inexperienced Couturier was entrusted by the financier

with the single greatest private commission of modern times: the re-conception, execution, and continuous embellishment of Goldsmith's 30,000-acre nature reserve on the

Pacific Coast of Mexico The Pacific Coast of Mexico or West Coast of Mexico stretches along the coasts of western Mexico at the Pacific Ocean and its Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Geography Baja California Peninsula On the western Baja California Peninsula coas ...

. Crowned by a 60,000-square-foot vaulted-and-tile-domed hilltop palace called La Loma, the estate came to encompass vast satellite villas and assorted guest pavilions. He went on to decorate Goldsmith's Boeing 757 ("a flying carpet with a motor"), his double-width Manhattan townhouse, and his historic French chateau. Two and a half decades later, the New York-based Couturier continues to execute grand-scale commissions in the U.S., Europe, and South America. Today his name has become synonymous with continental and international style and elegance working with clients such as

Anne Hearst Anne Randolph Hearst (born July 29, 1955) is an American socialite, philanthropist, and publishing heiress."Weddings and Celebrations: Anne Hearst, Jay McInerney", ''The New York Times'', 3 December 2006"The Randolph Hearsts Are Bitter", ''The Ne ...

and

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', ''Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last of ...

, Cecile David Weil,

Frederick Iseman Frederick J. Iseman is an American businessman, philanthropist, and the founder of CI Capital Partners (formerly Caxton-Iseman Capital) private-equity firm. Early life and education Iseman is the son of Joseph S. Iseman, a noted New York City ...

, Frédéric Fekkai, and Vanity Fair special correspondent

Amy Fine Collins Amy Fine Collins is an American journalist, muse, and author who has been a special correspondent for ''Vanity Fair'' since 1993, covering culture, style, and fashion. Starting in 2019 Amy began collaborating as an editor-at-large of Airmail mag ...

. Couturier has contributed to major architecture and design books and in October 2014, released his first monograp
Robert Couturier: Designing Paradises
with Rizzoli New York, showcasing a beautiful range of multifaceted work. His work has been featured in publications such as Architectural Digest, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Town and Country, the New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, House and Garden, The Robb Report, Elle Décor, and The Wall Street Journal. He previously lived in Connecticut with his partner, Jeffrey Morgan. He now resides in New York City.

References

External links

Robert Couturier's websiteInterview with Robert Couturier on The Business of Home Podcast
Living people 20th-century French architects 21st-century French architects French interior designers 1955 births {{France-sculptor-stub