The fireplace in the living room.
A desk in one of the bedrooms.
The custom-built, Sottsass-designed woodwork in Pigozzi’s late mother’s bedroom provides closet space for clothing and conveniently hides technical equipment like air conditioning.
The boiseries in what is now Jean Pigozzi’s video lounge were originally fabricated by the venerable Maison Jansen for his father’s study.
A Sottsass-designed sofa in Pigozzi's video lounge. The boiseries are from the 1950s and were fabricated by the venerable Maison Jansen.
In addition to the many Sottsass-designed rugs, Villa Dorane also boasts a collection of afghan war rugs. which were made during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and which depict tanks and machine guns in celebration of the afghans’ victory over their aggressors.
The Donau secretary is from a diffusion line Sottsass designed together with Franz Leitner, an Austrian furniture manufacturer.
The painting in the dining room is by the late Tanzanian artist George Lilanga, one of many pieces from Pigozzi’s seminal collection collection of contemporary African art.
A bedroom in the compound’s guest house features a Sottsass-designed wall lamp and bed.
Bathroom detail
Three types of marble were used for the make-up console in one of Villa Dorane’s nine bathrooms. The light-pink marble floors are one of the few remaining details from the house’s original 1950s fittings.
A desk called Litta is a design from 1986 for the Italian company Zabro. It is made from wood laminate and features a green suede drawing board and two black lacquered drawers.
An arched, white alcove in the wall above the bed in the otherwise all-pink room provides space for two reading lights.
Detail of one of the custom-made Sottsass-designed storage units.
VILLA DORANE: Ettore Sottsass Brings A Frisky Moment to the South Of France
Collector, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and general jack-of-all-trades, Jean Pigozzi owns properties around the world, from New York to Panama to Paris, not to mention a yacht, the Amazon Express. But if you’re looking for him during the summer months, chances are you’ll find him at Villa Dorane, his summertime getaway in Cap d’Antibes. This sprawling family house was built in 1953 by Pigozzi’s parents, who named it anagrammatically after the Simca Aronde, a popular sedan that helped secure the family’s automobile fortune. Designed in 1953 by the architect Aldo Buzzi, the villa was originally kitted out in what Pigozzi sums up as “typical bourgeois French ‘Louis Côte d'Azur.’” But these days visitors expecting staid Riviera décor are in for a wild surprise: in the mid-1990s, Pigozzi hired the great Ettore Sottsass to completely overhaul the interior in high Memphis style.
A built-in sofa in the study.
Sottsass scrapped almost everything, save for the original marble floors, the elaborate boiseries in the study, and the metal deckchairs (the latter two produced by the prestigious Maison Jansen). Today, freestanding pieces in Sottsass’s signature style nestle up against tropical woods and walls painted in of every shade of candy. And then there are the artworks in Pigozzi's collection — he is an avid collector of contemporary African and Japanese art, as well as the founder of the Contemporary African Art Collection — with pieces by Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, George Lilanga, Cheik Ledy, Chéri Samba, and Malick Sidibé, to name just a few. Outside, guests can take in the warm salt air while reclining beside the two swimming pools, one of which, a 25-meter-long lap pool, was also designed by Sottsass. Interested parties who don’t want to wait for a personal invitation from Pigozzi are in luck: the Villa Dorane can be rented out for up to a month, and caters to all manner of special occasions, including weddings and Bar or Bat Mitzvahs. Mazel Tov!
Photography by Johnny Graf, assisted by Marc Asekhame. Text by Kevin Greenberg. Taken from PIN–UP No. 15, Fall Winter 2013/14.
