Pierre Jovanovich. “As an interior architect, designer, I have to design spaces and objects that make you happy”

Madame Figaro. – Your chair of asymmetry is celebrating its 10th anniversary. How do you explain its success, the eternal aspect of it?

Pierre Jovanovich. – I designed it after the Bear, which became an iconic armchair. But asymmetry is by far our best-selling model. I don’t explain it. Perhaps because it reflects the spirit of my work well. I like essentially imperfect, unexpected shapes that are associated with roundness and comfort.

Is comfort a central element in your work as a designer?

For me, there is no real beauty without comfort. As an interior designer, I have to design spaces and objects that make you happy, feel good. My chairs, my couches, my armchairs promote a form of relaxation; they make you sit down to read, think, eat. And that’s why I always counterbalance my penchant for straight lines and cleanliness with warm details such as enveloping elements, pleasant materials, but also the use of color. This search is also encouraging for me. I am an anxious person, so when I am at home or working for a client, I need to develop a sense of security. I like the niche idea. I have dogs and breeding ritual is very important to them. It’s the same for me!

You are also a faithful person. A few years ago, you fell in love with the artist Claire Tabure, and you entrusted her with the mission of celebrating the 10th anniversary of Asymmetry.

I discovered Claire Tabouret ten years ago from one of my clients who collected her work. I fell in love with it and went to see one of his exhibitions. Then I treated myself to one of her ceramics. A year or two later I was invited to a dinner given in his honor by the Bugada & Cargnel Gallery. I was on his right and we talked about my love for murals in particular. At the end of the meal I asked him to paint the chapel on my property to the south. He accepted and kept his word. Seven years ago, he came to tattoo the chapel from floor to ceiling with his children. On this occasion, we were able to spend time together. Bonds of trust were established. Thus, when I wanted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Asymmetry, I immediately thought of him. He painted ten armchairs on Royal Manufacture Bonvallet fabrics, dyed in ten colors of his own choosing. While he is currently developing work around the landscape, he has chosen childhood as a common theme. He finally returned to the topic of our meeting.

You have a taste for art, but also for craftsmanship.

The fantastic thing about my job is that I have access to endlessly knowledgeable craftsmen. They are capable of taking on incredible challenges, such as making huge sofas out of raw wood. It’s very difficult because the raw wood, the only one I use, is live, it lives and can split. People who buy our furniture know it will evolve. And if I like to paint, gesticulate, I also connect with the material, always connected with nature, like wood, glass from sand, but also earth, ceramics, which I use especially for my lighting fixtures.

Very important fixtures in your collections…

Yes, light is essential for me. I was born in Nice and grew up in the southern light, cruel and strong, forged by the mistral that drives the clouds. I missed him. Therefore it affects my work. I often design interiors where the light is “down” as if we’ve closed the shutters to protect ourselves. So I avoid direct lighting, too aggressive architectural LEDs… I like the play of shadows, as if the sun is trying to pass through the shutters. This brings peace. The importance of light led me to design lighting. They often have an almost human appearance. There is a note of humor in their outline, because I think you can be sophisticated without taking yourself seriously. Some look like little characters, like the ET model, a table lamp that evokes aliens. The polished glass bubble that serves as its head is not smooth, it seems imperfect, the foot is in enameled ceramic, which gives a casual touch. Glazed ceramics have the magic of never being what you expect. We choose the color but after cooking it is not quite what we wanted. And it’s beautiful. Especially since we also feel the hand of women and men behind its production.

So you’re looking for imperfection.

Nature is imperfect. I try to approach it somehow. I would always prefer a tree with a curved trunk struggling to find the light over another straight specimen. That said, there is a French garden under the windows of the castle, my refuge. And I love it. Everything around is more romantic and it’s beautiful too. I believe that deep down I am nothing but contradictions.

Do these contradictions lead you to a form of eclecticism?

Maybe ! Eclecticism is a word that suits me anyway. In the interiors I design, I can mix classic furniture from 17^e and XVIII^e centuries with modern design and my own creations. My vision is a bit of a collector’s vision, and it’s this richness, I think, that creates harmony.

And you’re also increasingly eclectic professionally…

Slowly the professions got mixed up. I created my interior design agency in 2001. For my projects I designed furniture. People wanted to buy them. So, in 2021, I opened my publishing house. It was in the order of things. I dreamed of doing scenography for a long time. And I was able to sign the opera in 2023 Rigoletto, by Verdi, Vincent Huygen at the Basel Theater, Switzerland. I didn’t draw. I was offered this opportunity on a platter. This year I also envisioned the centenary exhibition of Villa Noyles in Jerez. This was also a surprise. And it was exciting. I was interested in the evolution of the decor of this house, built by Robert Mallet-Stevens at the request of Marie-Laure and Charles de Noye, and where Marie Laure lived until the 1970s. I discovered that simplicity, the functional side, has been replaced by a maximalist, almost bourgeois spirit in some rooms. Marie-Laure de Noailles’ tastes evolved, influencing her interior design. So I wanted to imagine what his request would be if he used my services today.

I wrote a story that led from room to room, as if showing the place to Charles, who left the Villa to live in Grasse, but with whom he exchanged a wonderful correspondence. I staged pieces borrowed from galleries and museums, incorporated some of my own creations into this journey. I also display works of art that he might have liked, like those of Bernard Buffet or César that he asked to press on his car. I had a portrait of him by Giulia Andreani. My favorite room is definitely the one where I made an unusual flower with glowing pistils. The space, which was a white cube, had turned into a living room with round walls. To be able to go this far is fantastic. A residential project includes functional limitations. People come to us for style, but you have to put yourself at the service of your client, their dream, and listen to them. Scenography is a completely different thing. We are much freer. I hope I can do it again and again.

But will you be able to manage everything at the same time?

I have boundless energy. And sick ambition. Maybe because I want to prove that I am much better than what I was destined to be when I was young. I have a revenge on life. Which does not prevent me from being deeply sincere. I like direct relations with my interlocutors, I am not a diva. I listen to my customers, I want to please them with all humility. Of course, there are also downsides to this existence: lots of travel, less and less time for myself… It’s a heavy physical and psychological pressure. But that means always doing more.

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