A licence to snoop
Two forthcoming events offer an opportunity to explore rooms designed by some of Europe’s most inspiring interior designers
GIVEN that the internet offers such a rich seam of dangerously addictive interior-design inspiration, there’s a touch of irony (and comfort) in the fact that two of the most hotly anticipated launches over the next few months are real rather than virtual.
One is The Holiday House, a London incarnation of an annual New York event in which interior designers decorate residential spaces that are open to visitors, with proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
The London Holiday House (in fact, two properties on Hamilton Terrace in St John’s Wood, NW8) runs from November 8 to December 12 (www.theholidayhouselondon.com) and will feature the work of leading luminaries, including Nina Campbell, Nicky Haslam and Justin Van Breda.
Early next year, from March 9 to 18, there will be yet more feasts for the eyes at the International Interior Design Exhibition (http://iide.be) that will be staged at the Hotel de la Poste, a magnificent building in Brussels featuring, among others, the Minimalist architect John Pawson, plus the interior designers Henrietta SpencerChurchill and Carter Tyberghein. The exhibition is the brainchild of Fleur Rossdale, who, 30 years ago, dreamt up the British Interior Design Exhibition at Chelsea Town Hall, a starry showcase that launched the careers of some of the country’s most talented designers.
Showcase houses are a venerable tradition in the USA that have their roots in the post-second World War building boom, during which magazines such as Arts & Architecture commissioned architects and designers (Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen et al) to design houses that attracted more than 350,000 visitors.
In recent years, they have focused more on interiors than architecture and tend to be staged in impressive settings such as the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. On the east coast, an established and glossy highlight of New York’s calendar is the Kips Bay showhouse in Manhattan, which, over the years, has featured the work of the country’s most schmanziest designers and which raises funds for the Kips Bay Boys’ & Girls’ Club.
The practice of creating showhouses isn’t just a treat for visitors, who are treated to a host of inspiring ideas (and the heady aroma of fresh paint and newly hung wallpaper). Interior designers love the fact that they get to create a scheme without the burden of a client’s brief, with some pretty striking results.
‘Visitors are treated to a host of inspiring ideas and the heady aroma of fresh paint ’