The flowers, the dialogue between the naturalness of the leaves and the artificiality of a boutique of cut flowers are a challenge in essence. A few steps from the Palais Royal, the boutique opened at 15 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Paris, the floral gallery is a colorful universe in which one plunges from the large window to the heart of the space in depth.
How a delicatessen space can be transformed into a scenographic flower gallery for Arturo Arita in Paris ? The French designer and architect SOPHIE DRIES reimagines a lush setting inspired by the Mannerist caves of Italian Renaissance. Her poetic inspiration is Arturo Arita's eclecticism, originally from Honduras, he grew up in New York City before moving to Paris.
There he became fascinated by the exotic flowers that flourished in botanical gardens. His focal point of the Art Deco in many arrangement echoes to the baroque fantasies to amalgamate mineral freshness, mirrors and modest contrasting textures to serve the artefact. The brief required a double difficulty of interior design : colorful flowers and different species, such as a global chromatic journey (some species from France and others from Indonesia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, South Africa and Cameroon).
The intention was to serve them in a simple and chic scenography with character. One of the challenge was to create a mystery grotto, made of plaster panelS at the back of the gallery, mounted on a metal structure, which faces the customer like an inner vitrine. It looks like a wall of white stones a romantic mimesis of a lost nature. We wanted the client wondering what is behind it. Niches here and there allow vases to be filled with flowers on display while an almond green curtain hangs, closed, in the center of the shop.
We thought in particular of the small theater of Twin Peaks, by David Lynch. A plaster wall thus hosts rock cavities used to display bouquets of colorful flowers. The space was enlarged by a set of mirrors on the walls reflecting the terrazzo floor and the large Brazilian marble top with hand-crafted raw edges. This large central counter stands as a monolithic stele but is also the main working space of the floral artist.
The André Arbus Art Deco style glass wall and ceiling lights were found in the auction house. The brass faucet with turtles is also a collector’s item, the baroque style also refers to the Italian mannerism of the time. The raw and lightweight white plaster bases allow a set of modules with their variable size and height. They make it possible to vary the landscape of the window to the rhythms of the florist’s inspirations.
Minerals are found in different parts of the project, it is indeed the passion of the architect Sophie Dries, the pyrite appliques on the mirrors are made to measure like a Jewel set. Minimalized as possible, mainly treated in white to emphasize the colorful flowers and to let the creations of Arturo Arita express themselves freely. The florist's collection of vases is as well as very eclectic, ranging from contemporary pieces by SOPHIE DRIES to old Murano glass paste, Italian terracotta by Poggi, Gio Ponti, Cesar.