Palais Bulles: architectural madness of the Riviera

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As Jean-Pascal Hesse relates in his book “Le Palais Bulles de Pierre Cardin” (Assouline, 2012), which traces the history of this singular villa, the designer described this architectural work in these terms: ”Placed like pottery in the landscape, this architectural design fascinated me. The Palais Bulles is both new and primitive, between the nest of insects, reptiles or bees, and like a human body with its organs. It is the body of a woman; the bubbles are her breasts; the corridors, her guts. Everything is absolutely sensual. For me, the bubble, the circle, the round are perfect shapes, because they are infinite. Antti Lovag's organic bubble seduced me, because it is at the same time the fetal habitat of the child, the cave of prehistoric man and, at the same time, it evokes the modernity of satellites and space.”

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Originally, the genius of Antti Lovag

Behind this unique lunar architecture is Antti Lovag, a non-conformist architect born in Hungary and raised in Stockholm. Jean-Pascal Hesse says: ”During the war, he swapped his surname Antal Korski for “Lovag”, which means “knight”, and was then taken prisoner by the Soviet army. Recognized as Jewish, he will be subject to the constraints of a regime that is not very tolerant. Arriving in France, he studied at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, which he abandoned, but carried out his first architectural experiments, which he wanted to be the opposite of the major urban trends of this period of reconstruction. He dreams of a troglodyte home, a return to the ancestral habitat, created infinity pool pools, open kitchens... with a single rule: no right angle, which hampers the circulation of bodies, ideas, feelings!” Everything must be round, without walls, without tiles, this organic architecture must embrace freedom, be inspired by nature, and must follow the movements and morphology of man.

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In the 1960s, in the middle of the Trente Glorieuses, Antti Lovag settled on the Côte d'Azur, which attracted Happy Fews Likely to love his art, he met the illustrious architect Jacques Couëlle, who opened the doors of his business to him, and who developed sculptural houses in harmony with the environment. In 1963, Antti Lovag participated in the construction of the luxury residence of Port-La-Galère in Théoule-sur-Mer, composed of 400 apartments in clusters, as well as that of the Cala di Volpe hotel located on the Costa Smeralda, in Sardinia.

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In 1968, Antti Lovag decided to stand on his own two feet. He met the entrepreneur Antoine Gaudet for whom he designed the first Bulle house: the Maison Gaudet (or Maison du Rouréou) in Tourrette-Levens, in the Nice hinterland. Fully integrated into its natural environment, the latter has undergone continuous expansion for thirty years. It is now classified as a heritage of historical monuments. In 1971, he created a new Bulle house for Pierre Bernard in Port-La-Galère, in Théoule-sur-Mer, between Cannes and Saint-Raphaël. The industrialist wanted to build a vacation home without right angles. ”Very early on, Pierre Cardin wanted to partner with Pierre Bernard to market these particular homes. Although the project did not see the light of day right away, the couturier's interest in this place remained strong for years.”, declares Jean-Pascal Hesse.

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In 1984, Antti Lovag unveiled his second creation for the Bernard family: an architectural work of 400 square meters, composed of ochre concrete bubbles and dotted with portholes. Perched on the heights of the Esterel, it offers a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean and the Lérins Islands. Jean-Pascal Hesse remembers: ”The press quickly took over the construction site. We were talking about science fiction, a flying saucer architecture, and inspired by Alexander Jodorowsky! On six levels, the house is anti-seismic, made of metal, and polyurethane foam, covered with fiberglass, coated with boat hull paint. It receives daylight through its thousand portholes. Everything is just domes, vaults, cylinders, convolutions, which are part of an approach of visibility and invisibility, in symbiosis with the sea, vegetation and water, giving free rein to the imagination. Pierre Bernard had the place constantly expanded from 1979 to 1988. Anti Lovag creates a vast reception room that is largely open to the pool, whose glass bottom allows you to see inside some rooms and their bathrooms. He designed a huge apartment and nine original suites. Most of the furniture is integrated into the rooms and mobile, like the large round table that moves from the circular bench in the dining area to the kitchen for ease of service, or the undulating bookcases.”

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The death of Pierre Bernard, which occurred before the completion of the work, did not put an end to this unique architectural project. It was the fashion designer Pierre Cardin who, by acquiring this work in 1992, offered it a new destiny and renamed it the “Palais Bulles”.

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Pierre Cardin makes it his piece of paradise

The man who revolutionized fashion with his tributes to the conquest of space, in particular the bubble dress and the satellite dress, was fascinated by his architectural spaceship which became his favorite refuge. Jean-Pascal Hesse: ”As soon as it was acquired, the Palais Bulles became his playground. He launched the planned new expansions, and dressed it up with furniture and art objects to create a conservatory of modernity. In 1970, he created the “Environment” studio in his workshops where he produced jewelry, wallpapers, household linen, furniture and lighting in limited edition that will bring the Palais Bulles to life: we find metal and plexiglass, strong markers of this period, which he will use in his sculpture-museum construction of nearly 2,000 m² including the passageways, following new expansions.”

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The place now has ten suites, a reception room that can accommodate 350 people seated, and a lounge that opens onto an 8,500 m² palm grove² with a 360° panorama and infinity pools. Jean-Pascal Hesse: ”Since it was impossible to hang a picture on a rounded wall, Pierre Cardin had murals painted. In the large living room, on the Teheran marble floor, wooden or blown glass flowers sit side by side with root sofas, armchairs with novel shapes, and lacquer furniture designed by Cardin himself in the 1970s. Among the decorative objects, we find bronze eggs by Fontana, plates signed Picasso offered by Claude Pompidou, armchairs by Rancillac or designer Mario Sabo, dressers made of agglomerated wood and plastic by Rayond Loewy, and sculptures by Dario Villalba. The beds are round, the chairs look like thrones, the seats are carpeted. Some, such as the Ovni armchairs, or some daybeds, were designed by Pierre Cardin. The Rings armchair is the work of Maria Pergay, the tables that of Knoll, the seats are by Roger Tallon... Serge Manzon created tables, a balance lamp, a mobile television, or a giraffe chair. It is to Piotr Kowalski that we owe the spheres of color that enchant the place. And to the painter Frans Krajcberg the red relief in Pierre Cardin's bedroom. The designer also called on artists and designers, such as Patrice Breteau, for the first blue suite and its cosmic environment, Daniel You, who will create a surprising flight where an angel rides a motorcycle, or Dominique Maraval, whose walls full of ochre dust recall the surrounding hills. François Chauvin, Jérôme Tisserand or Gérard Le Cloarec, for their part, will choose abstraction.”

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Pierre Cardin, who dreamed of making this place a crossroads of the arts and a meeting place, had even built a 500-seat open-air amphitheater to host outdoor shows and concerts. Since the 2000s, every summer, in addition to the heyday of the Cannes Film Festival where many stars parade there (Jérémy Irons, Kristin Scott Thomas, Arnold Schwarzenegger...), he has organized a very eclectic music and theater festival there every summer.

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Jean-Pascal Hesse: ”Today, even after the death of Pierre Cardin in 2020, the Palais Bulles still belongs to the Group, and we continue to privatize it for private events or shootings. Among the latest events, the 2016 Dior Cruise fashion show by Raf Simons, the shooting of clips by Lenny Kravitz or Travis Scott, or the launch of a fine jewelry collection from the House of Van Cleef & Arpels... Since 2022, Pierre Cardin's grandnephew, Rodrigo Cardin, has also organized “Les Prix Bulles Pierre Cardin” there, intended to reward projects and personalities who work... Since 2022, Pierre Cardin's grandnephew, Rodrigo Cardin, has also organized “Les Prix Bulles Pierre Cardin” there. In favor of ecology .” A noble plea for the future, in an ideal futuristic setting.

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www.palaisbulles.com