Page 88 - Homes amp Gardens UK February 2021
P. 88
INSPIRATION
ensuality is not a word often associated as big influences on his interiors. ‘The period I’m
with interiors, but it’s one Andre most attracted to is between the 1930s and 1970s,
Mellone uses to describe his work. from the art deco period to Bauhaus.’ Having studied
S‘I’ve been told there’s something sexy initially as an architect, Andre’s understanding of
about it and I’m very proud of that,’ the Brazilian- how to lay out rooms was a gift on this project. ‘The
born, New York-based interior designer says, main living room is very large and square with eleven
smiling. True to his signature style, the stunning foot ceilings. It’s often easier to place furniture in a
interiors he has created for a newly developed rectangular room where the sofa might go against
apartment in a late-19th-century building in the long wall, for example. Here, we found a modular
Brooklyn are seductive, cosy and well-proportioned. sofa that functions as the central pinwheel for the
His clients, a husband and wife with several other rest of the seating areas.’ A sourcing mission that saw
properties in the US, were eager to be close to their Andre search as far as London, Brazil and Senegal has
family. ‘The apartment is only three quarters of a led to an exceptional collection of rare mid-century
mile from where our grandchildren live. We wanted furnishings. The arrangement in this central room
our New York home to be somewhere where we gives the pieces both poise and languor, striking an
could entertain formally, but that would also suit all alluring setting for those wishing to linger for drinks
the generations of our family,’ the wife of the couple after supper. While the main reception areas are
explains. ‘With such tall, large spaces we didn’t want effortless and chic, the kitchen is fully equipped for
the property to feel too cavernous. We were drawn entertaining. To conceal the heat and toil of cooking,
to Andre because he has a special sense of spatial Andre designed sliding windows of steel and fluted
awareness. He also does these wonderful sketches glass allowing it to be separate and private.
that enabled us to visualise his ideas,’ she adds. Where Andre’s vision became more difficult to
For Andre, meeting the client led to an easy envisage was in the study. ‘I wasn’t sure about the
collaboration that has prompted two further projects mahogany panelling,’ his client reveals, ‘but he
between client and designer. ‘She is a collector so really pushed on that and, of course, he was
the art programme was entirely hers and she already absolutely right. The result is an incredible room,’
knew where she wanted to hang each piece. I she says. Inspired by Helena Rubinstein’s Paris
welcomed that – the fact that I didn’t have creative apartment of the 1930s, the built-in shelves display
control over everything meant the mix of what I did an extensive collection of African sculptures
and she did made for the best dynamic,’ says Andre, reflective of her Zimbabwean heritage.
although he acknowledges that at times he felt out Like the perfect seductress, this apartment has
of his comfort zone. ‘If it was up to me I’d make a sense of self-assuredness and low-key glamour
everything black, brown and blue, but for the that’s hard to mimic, and undoubtedly those
bedroom she requested a colour palette of pale blue, ingredients are what go into giving Andre’s work
pink and yellow, which I found challenging.’ that little touch of ‘je ne sais quoi’. &
The son of a prominent Brazilian industrial designer,
Andre cites his father’s work and mid-century design ■ Studio Mellone, studiomellone.com
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