At the Hôtel de Sully, an exercise in high style

In 2021, Pierre Gonalons opened the proceedings. As both an interiors specialist and a designer, he placed his sofas, lounge chairs, contemporary rugs, and a fabulously inlaid writing desk in Orangerie and in l’appartement de la Duchesse of the Hôtel de Sully, all atop a parquet floor adorned with marble cabochons he had designed. In 2022, Isabelle Stanislas offered her contemporary vision of this jewel of an 18th-century Orangerie, opening onto a garden courtyard with massive arch windows. Her minimal style was succeeded in 2023 by the joyful exuberance of Studio Uchronia, which scattered its Pop-infused colors everywhere, energizing this venerable historic monument. Each year, the Hôtel de Sully is an essential stop on the Paris Design Week circuit. Upon this occasion, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux opens the doors of this Mansion, which also happens to be its headquarters, in the heart of the Marais district. “The key challenge is to bring our heritage into a dialogue with contemporary design,” explains Anne-Isabelle Vignaud, Head of the Cultural Events Department. “It’s a real adventure for us to meet designers and see their vision and how they find gold in dealing with all the limitations placed on them. In the end, we find that we’ve rediscovered our own monuments.” In Paris, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux manages the Arc de Triomphe, the Sainte Chapelle, and the Palais Royal…and further afield, the Villa Cravois by Mallet-Stevens and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye. “We host over four hundred events throughout our sites each year,” states Anne-Isabelle Vignaud. “Contemporary dance, poetry, and concerts, from medieval to electro: we cover a wide range of styles and disciplines. So, when we were approached by Paris Design Week, it provided an amazing opportunity for us to join forces with the world of design.” Last year, the Centre paired the Hôtel de la Marine with this event by commissioning a monumental installation from artist Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert for the courtyard of this Mansion located on Place de la Concorde. This glass artist placed 80 gilded and silvered glass discs around the venue, measuring eleven meters in length overall, to reflect the building and sky. “This partnership with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux is a real privilege,” emphasizes Pierre Gendrot, Director of Paris Design Week. “It offers showcases of incomparable quality for today’s creative design while placing the work of our designers within a historical perspective.”