The architect
Antti Lovag, born in Budapest in 1920 in Hungary and died on September 27, 2014 in Tourrettes-sur-Loup (Alpes-Maritimes), is a Hungarian architect who specialized in organic architecture. He arrived in France in the late 1940s and gained his initial experience with architect Jean Prouvé. In the 1960s, he worked with Jacques Couëlle, one of the first architects to develop an organic architecture style in France. In the early 1970s, he began the construction of the Bernard house where he implemented his radical and innovative housing design. Maison Bernard in Théoule sur Mer, on the coast of South France, was the architect's first built project for the industrialist Pierre Bernard and his family.
The patron
Industrialist, adventurer and Maecenas Pierre Bernard (1922-1991) was convinced of Antti Lovag’s talent and innovative ideas and gave him the freedom, the means and the opportunity to implement them for nearly twenty years. The Bernard House was practically completed at the end of the 1970s. Designed as a family home, it includes a set of shared living areas and private spaces dedicated to each of the four family members. This is one of three emblematic Antti Lovag architectural achievements and is generally considered the most perfectly completed.
The approach - video
Antti Lovag had a unique vision of architecture. To underscore the non-conventional dimension of his approach, he defined himself as a ‘habitologist'. He was not interested in architecture as such, but rather focused on man and his living space to create an envelope encompassing man’s needs.