The Limited Times

Alain Moatti or the luminous line

11/10/2023, 8:02:52 PM

Highlights: Alain Moatti is a renowned architect-scenographer. After the Franciscaines in Deauville, the Hôtel de la Marine and many other achievements, he has just restructured the historic L'Oréal building on rue Royale in Paris. The sky of Paris as well as that of Normandy that inspired the Impressionists so much. Look up at the sky for light. And bring life in. It's our job to make people want to stay in a place. And light and clarity are part of it.


PORTRAIT - A renowned architect-scenographer, he combines light and the history of the place in his creations. After the Franciscaines in Deauville, the Hôtel de la Marine and many other achievements, he has just restructured the historic L'Oréal building on rue Royale in Paris.

Always look at the sky. The sky of Paris as well as that of Normandy that inspired the Impressionists so much. Look up at the sky for light. And bring life in.

Of his childhood in Algeria, where he was born, Alain Moatti has kept few memories except for this very special light. Pure, radiant, almost blinding. Since then, and even though this renowned architect has never returned to the country where his father died when he was 2 years old, he assures that he has noticed a strange phenomenon: "When I arrive in a place where the light is strong, thick, I tell myself that I am at home." He tries to reproduce this feeling of being "at home" in his work: "There are places where you feel a sense of fulfillment. It's something sensitive, not intellectual. It's our job to make people want to stay in a place." And light and clarity are part of it.

It is therefore no coincidence that, for each of his projects, Alain Moatti works...

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