Metropole juin 2019

HOTEL METROPOLE MONTE-CARLO
L’hôtel | Hotel # 9 2019
JACQUES GARCIA THE PINNACLE OF CHIC !
What was the starting-point for the hotel’s renovation?
The Metropole Monte-Carlo had already been renovated in 19th-century
style with a considerable handicap: the shopping mall to the left hid
the entrance completely, but also the playful and festive vision of an
hotel. I have redesigned this area, creating a plantlife gallery leading
to an Italian garden which completely screens the view of the mall. For
the interior, the lack of high ceilings does not allow for what is known
as “noble” decor. So I came up with a glass roof to create a large winter
garden, like those in Italian villas on the Amalfi coast.
What exactly is the Garcia style? A capacity to blend all kinds
of styles with just the right touch, without following trends?
I don’t know how to decorate. I find it impossible to introduce a colour
into a room whose proportions are all wrong. I believe in the soul of a
place, and the soul of proportions, as in human beings. The style you
call Garcia is simply an understanding of the soul.
Which era do you prefer in decoration?
That of tomorrow, as it allows me to incorporate all the others.
© L. BOuFFIer
The public premises have seen a change in the dominant
colour of the fabrics. What was your source of inspiration?
I would quote a remark by Prince Lampedusa from the film
“Le Guépard”: “In order for everything to change, nothing must
change.” When a place is successful, if people like it, it needs to be
renovated non-stop, but there is no need to change it. You only change
things that don’t work.
You are currently working on the Soft renovation of the Carré
d’Or suite. What would you like to add to it?
This suite is very aptly named, as it it is the most beautiful suite in
Monaco, offering an unimpeded view of the Mediterranean and the
Casino which is, in architectural terms, one of the Principality’s legends
that continues to make us dream of a certain exoticism, admittedly
outdated, but still valid. Everything here is subservient to luxury. The
idea is thus to endow it with more, not ostentatiously, but through
elegance, comfort, culture and refinement.
A challenge to be taken up?
Rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris as it was before. With no ego and no
unfortunate outside initiatives. Let us continue to dream.
What are your current projects?
In Paris with the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs de Hollande which belongs
to Paul Louis Weiller, a private residence, with all the decors painted
in the 17th century. We are going to propose an hotel with suites of
extreme luxury, which will become for me an extraordinary place.
Then also in Doha, with a large, highly contemporary palace, the
“contemporary of tomorrow” even, which will certainly become a
flagship for the town. I like Doha. It is a megalopolis I have watched
being built, as decorator for the former Emir of Qatar and the current
Emir. I saw it being invented with an extremely cultural philosophy,
drawing on museums, universities, diversity, immense modernity, lots
of creativity and yet, at the same time, it is a great place to live. Which
is not always the case in places that are assertively modern.
What is the secret of style in decoration?
This time I’ll borrow a quote from Chanel : “I hate fashion because it
goes out of fashion, and I hate styles if they are inappropriately applied”.
© STudIO PHeNIx
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