i was sipping red wine and flipping through my latest
architectural digest and my jaw dropped at the pages of
this high rise apartment in beirut. crisp, subdued, color palette and clear soft but sturdy lines employ you to sit, take in the view and perhaps interpret beirut in a different light.
joe serrins, the designer, notes that during a typical design process, late delivery of furniture might be a normal disruption of the creative process, but
here in beirut, "political upheaval was a defining challenge."
"for a couple in beirut, designer joe serrins worked counter to local expectations of gilding and palatial details, favoring a modern, subtle treatment. above: in the entrance hall, a photo by abelardo morell leans against the custom carved gypsum wall bearing a map of beirut."
"art by guerra de la paz is suspended on steel cables in front of the glass curtain wall in the living area, an open space 57 feet long. divider and daybed fabrics, larsen."
“we reinterpreted traditional islamic decoration,” serrins remarks of the living area ceiling relief, which depicts a map of paris. bergamo sofa fabric. carpet, am collections."
"in the dining area, kim keever’s photograph hangs on a verd antique marble wall. A chandelier of Serrins’s design pairs with 1970s chairs covered in a rogers & goffigon fabric."
"in a guest room, he paired a 1965 danish chair with a bedside table he designed. calvin klein bedcovering."
"housed in a new kohn pedersen fox high-rise, the apartment overlooks mountains, the harbor and the mediterranean. the main terrace is paved in the same white marble emulsion serrins used in most of the interior. “we wanted to do something that flowed throughout the space and unified all the parts,” he says."
in serrin's choices of color palette, he intentionally picked up pinks and golds of the surrounding cityscape, and in the bedrooms he used the greens and browns of the mountains for inspiration. truly spectacular in every way. what are your thoughts on this space? did you see the issue as well? well, it certainly pulled me in and had me contemplating it's serenity in a sometimes complicated area. enjoy!
