Ana Moussinet, impelling architecture
Published on 5 June 2021
In her capable hands, a hotel stay or a day at the office becomes an exclusive experience, marrying lifestyle with efficiency. But just who is this Serbian-born architect who works with some of the biggest names?
“Design must accompany change in today’s fast-paced world”.
A talent for designing relevant solutions has resulted in Ana Moussinet’s interior design studio being invited to design some of the world’s most luxurious hotels and some highly prestigious communal office spaces. The worlds of hospitality and work are both in the throes of change. The woman whose designs have always been resolutely people-focused observes these rapid changes with a certain sense of indulgence. “Today, work never stops, with people working wherever and whenever they want,” she explains. “As long as we’re comfortable in our surroundings, we can work absolutely anywhere.” The ACCOR group has used her services time and time again for its MGallery and Sofitel brands, for which she has designed a number of interiors in Prague, Doha, Odessa and Rabat. In Paris, she’s recently put her name to the relaxation zones and conference rooms at the Louvre-Saint-Honoré office complex, and is now adding a few final flourishes to the communal areas at the 83 Marceau building renovated by Dominique Perrault, both for the Société Foncière Lyonnaise.
This is a woman driven by a passion for designing engaging spaces in which wellness is rooted in lifestyle. At the Louvre Saint-Honoré, the geographical location alone provides an initial injection of culture, with the venue nestled between the Louvre and the Ministry of Culture. In 2023, the Cartier Foundation will take over the ground floor space designed by Jean Nouvel. Ana Moussinet has cleverly positioned artwork throughout the space, with a helping hand from the Amélie, Maison d’Art gallery. Each carefully curated piece interacts with the bespoke furnishings in the relaxation zone, with rich enamelled lava coffee tables, leather, velvet and baize sofas and grooved timber walls creating a cosy, luxurious vibe that is anything but what you’d expect from a traditional XXth century “cafeteria”. “Service sector buildings have become huge, soulless vessels. I wanted to inject a breath of fresh air.” She’s simultaneously injected a sense of hospitality, too, with guests proud to host their meetings in such a delightfully exclusive venue rather than the usual city-centre restaurant. Ana Moussinet is also accompanying the shift in behaviour that is sweeping through the hotel sector. “Hotel rooms used to be all about sleeping, and we would spend hours staging the bed alone. Nowadays, we focus on making the space a comfortable place to work by providing more than just a simple table and chair pushed up against a wall.” Instead, the interior designer creates a fully-fledged lounge area, complete with a sofa and tables of different heights on which a mug, a laptop and important files will all happily find their place. Her studio is currently adding the finishing touches to the MGallery hotel in Lille and, even more impressive, the RITZ Residences in Dubai.
Ana Moussinet grew up in Belgrade in a Slavic Orthodox family of artists. “Right from being tiny, I was surrounded by architects and interior designers, plus my great-uncle is a world-famous painter, and my grandma a concrete engineer. Both my parents studied at the Beaux-Arts in Belgrade, so nudes have been part of my life for what seems like forever! It helped me hone my understanding of shapes, shadows and the human form.” Her tight-knit upbringing was one filled with love and French culture. On turning 16, Moussinet flew the nest, first heading to the United States and then making a beeline for the Beaux-Arts in Paris to study architecture. “Being born in Serbia encourages you to pick up other languages pretty quickly because no-one speaks your own. The world becomes your oyster, you feel at home wherever you go. It’s a philosophy that I also apply to my work: I have no boundaries.” Moussinet’s style is often described as “overtly Parisian” by virtue of its elegance and refinement. “French lifestyle is something that has grown on me over time. It began with the magic of studying Degas’ work at the Louvre, and since then my work has opened a number of intellectual doors. But it’s impossible to codify.” On graduating as an architect, she rapidly specialised in interior design, honing her sensitivity for close contact with people and demonstrating an incredible eye for detail. “Thanks to my training, I’m on exactly the same wavelength as the architects who design the buildings in which I work. My designs are underpinned by a global understanding of each site, its history, its country, its orientation, its exterior, the greenery, how it feels at different times of day.” Today, Ana Moussinet is turning her hand to another facet of design: objects. Having already got into the habit of creating bespoke furnishings for her clients, she’s decided the time is now right to start manufacturing pieces of her own. Her first foray into this field was the Good Vibes mirror for Ligne Roset, and a number of other exclusive designs are currently in the pipeline with La Manufacture.
TALKS REPLAY
FRENCH WAY OF LIFE / HOTELS AND OFFICES POST-COVID: A NEW FRENCH WAY OF LIFE
TALKS / DIGITAL DAYS MAISON&OBJET APRIL 2021
