Maison

His luxurious dark-wood minimalism and masculine palette of creams, browns, and grays have redefined modernism, supplanting the Scandinavian blond timbers on white that just a few years ago were the sine qua non of the modern interior. Working in close collaboration with Liaigre, Herbert Ypma set out to capture and document eight recent and previously unpublished residential projects. They are incredibly diverse: a modernist retreat on the Galician coast belonging to the family of Spanish fashion designer Adolfo Dominguez; a former artist's atelier in Montparnasse; Rupert Murdoch's capacious SoHo loft; an eighteenth-century Bavarian timber farmhouse owned by the proprietor and designer of Germany's fashion label Strenesse; and Liaigre's own fisherman's cottage retreat on the Ile de Re.The integrity and pervasive calm of Liaigre's spaces reflect an instinctive aversion to the clamor of modern life. His materials are luxuriously authentic--exotic African timbers such as ebony; linen, silk, and wool; marble and natural stone; and his signature bronze hardware. And, as every project demonstrates, he makes deep connections with the tradition of each location, whether it be the industrial heritage of downtown Manhattan or the wild coastal landscape of Corsica.