THE 5 TREASURES TO DISCOVER AFTER CONFINEMENT
# 3 The Bernard House
ATHILIE in Nice Thursday, APRIL 30, 2020 ESTIMATED READING TIME: 7 MINUTES
We could have told you about the Palais Bulles known worldwide thanks to the designer Pierre Cardin (who bought it in 1992 following the death of Pierre Bernard) and which remains prohibited to the general public.
At Athilie we have rather chosen to tell you about the origin of Antti Lovag's bubble houses , his meeting, his story of friendship with Pierre Bernard .
Both free and adventurous men. Far from conventions and architectural standardization but closer to human needs and well-being, the philosophy and architecture of Antti Lovag has never been so current in the period we are going through.
We decided to highlight 5 numbers on cult places to visit after confinement that combine art, architecture and people through photos, testimonies, videos too little known by the general public.
This great adventure begins in Théoule-sur-Mer and especially in Port-La-Galère with the bubble house: La Maison Bernard .
La Maison Bernard, Théoule-sur-Mer
BERNARD HOUSE: WONDERFUL BULLE HOUSE
Originally, there is a place and a landscape with which Pierre Bernard, a wealthy industrialist, falls in love: the Estérel massif, the endless Mediterranean, the bay of Cannes and the Lérins Islands . He acquired land with a project: to build a holiday home for his family of three children.
He meets by chance during a dinner the architect and habitologist Antti Lovag . Family legend has it that Lovag shattered his initial project by brutally putting it down on his architectural choice. The provocation of departure will seal the beginning of a long friendship and a wonderful adventure: The first Bulle house by Pierre Bernard.
An original design and a masterpiece of architecture from the end of the 20th century. This house was thought and built totally tailor-made in the 70s by putting people at the center, their living space and their needs. Each bubble represents a room in the house and is reminiscent of the mother's womb.
"My conditions: I don't know how long it will last, I don't know what it will be and I don't know how much it will cost. "
Antti LOVAG
PIERRE BERNARD THE FRIEND AND SPONSOR
Pierre Bernard will give Antti Lovag the means to carry out his ideas and develop his habitologist architect art for twenty years. This extraordinary creation has no deadlines or budget. Pierre Bernard gives Antti Lovag the opportunity to freely experiment with materials, implantation and develop innovative construction techniques from the concrete veil. It was during these years and thanks to Pierre Bernard that he developed his own architectural identity. At the end of the construction of Maison Bernard, neither wanted to end the adventure. They then embark on the construction of the Observatory of the Côte d'Azur in Caussols and then in the construction of a new house which will be acquired by Pierre Cardin on the death of Pierre Bernard: Le Palais Bulles , which welcomes only private events such as haute couture parades : Dior .
La Maison Bernard, Théoule-sur-Mer
“I've always worked with adventurers who wanted something that didn't exist. "
Antti LOVAG
Antti Lovag and Pierre Bernard
ANTTI LOVAG, THE NON-CONFORMIST HABITOLOGIST
Born in 1920 in Hungary, Antti Lovag moved to France in 1947. He first collaborated with Jean Prouvé then Jacques Couëlle one of the first architects (totally on the fringes of major architectural movements such as modern architecture) to develop l organic and troglodyte architecture-sculpture in France. They will experiment together the construction of hulls and bubbles. This collaboration is decisive for the rest of the entire work of Antti Lovag.
He designs spaces of freedom where the unnatural right angle has no place and where roundness is king.
Antti Lovag lives on his construction sites, studies the surrounding nature and its specificities to design the house. It is the house that adapts to the land and nature, not the other way around. The house begins to emerge from the ground by means of a metal frame which makes it possible to visualize the interior spaces and to foresee future openings on the sky, the sea and the vegetation. Then a concrete veil is projected onto the metal structure. Maison Bernard is undoubtedly one of the most successful examples of the organic architecture of Antti Lovag.
La Maison Bernard, Théoule-sur-Mer
"Architecture does not interest me. It is man, the human space which creates an envelope around the needs of man. "
Antti LOVAG
La Maison Bernard, Théoule-sur-Mer
WHAT FUTURE FOR BERNARD HOUSE?
The heirs of Maison Bernard have created the Maison Bernard endowment fund, the mission of which is to protect and ensure the sustainability of the architectural work of Antti Lovag produced with Pierre Bernard in Théoule sur Mer in the 1970s. endowment fund Maison Bernard is also responsible for the promotion and accessibility to the public of Lovag's work. The house now offers guided tours in small groups and by appointment every Tuesday from October to April. Finally, the Maison Bernard endowment fund welcomes each year a new artist in residence. The chosen artist realizes an original work in adequacy with the architecture of the house and its environment. The works are intended to be presented “in situ” permanently.
La Maison Bernard, Théoule-sur-Mer
“After the disappearance of our father, the question arose of the future of the house. Faced with this achievement, it was up to us to take up the challenge, to continue the adventure in our own way. The first objective is to perpetuate their work, open it to the public and facilitate the study of the architecture of Antti Lovag. The second objective is to preserve the identity of the house and to ensure that it remains a place of creation. "
Isabelle and Jean-Patrice BERNARD
At the end of confinement, go to this incredible Maison Bernard, Port-La-Galère 06590 Théoule-sur-Mer. As a bonus you will discover the sculpture and cave buildings of Jacques Couëlle which make the identity of Port-La-Galère.
http://fonds-maisonbernard.com/fr/
Thanks to Maison Bernard , Théoule-sur-Mer , Studio Odile Decq , Pierre Cardin , Palais Bulles .