{"id":683289,"date":"2026-07-10T00:09:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T00:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/683289\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T00:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T00:09:27","slug":"inside-villa-benkemoun-the-organic-modernist-masterpiece-by-architect-emile-sala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/683289\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Villa Benkemoun: The Organic Modernist Masterpiece by Architect \u00c9mile Sala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today mature trees soften the sculptural outline of the curving concrete walls, recently repainted white as part of a wider renovation programme led by Brigitte and her husband, documentary filmmaker Thierry Demaizi\u00e8re. \u201cThierry loves architecture, design and decoration, and he\u2019s the one who has designed the places where we have lived and often helps friends with projects,\u201d says the author, who also wrote La Villa, a book dedicated to the house. \u201cThe aim was not to restore it exactly as it was in 1974 but to recapture its spirit by simplifying. The house was originally ochre yellow, for example, but we chose to repaint it white.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restoration has revived the place without freezing it in time. The interiors have been carefully restored throughout, balancing original 1970s details with more contemporary elements. The key spaces remain soft, sinuous and immersive, particularly the sitting room, where serpentine seating curves around a fireplace designed by Max Sauze. The original kitchen has been revived alongside the sculpted bathrooms, bathing pods and dramatic spiral staircase.<\/p>\n

\"Designed<\/p>\n

Designed by Thierry Demaizi\u00e8re and crafted by Astro Sanitaire & Thermique, the round shower enclosure adds a unique touch to the first-floor bedroom. Photography: Richard Powers \/ Living Inside<\/p>\n

Uplifting and engaging at every turn, Villa Benkemoun remains far more than an architectural curiosity from the 1970s. It stands as the result of a rare creative chemistry between the architect and his client, each encouraging the other towards something more daring, more human and more visionary than either of them might have imagined alone.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in the July-August 2026 issue of Vogue Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today mature trees soften the sculptural outline of the curving concrete walls, recently repainted white as part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[8064,6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-architecture-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}