When Victoria-Maria Geyer was presented with an option to structure a household in Zurich, it felt like a desire arrive true. That the residence was a Brutalist masterpiece by renowned Swiss architect Ernst Gisel was—for the Hamburg-born, Brussels-primarily based interior designer—a occupation-defining instant. “When the owners questioned me to come on board, I had to do this,” Geyer claims, pinching her have hand. “They sent me pics of the house, and quickly I was seduced.” The gravitational pull of the residence lured Geyer from Brussels to Zurich with the undertaking of introducing warmth and texture to concrete and metal.
Found in Küsnacht, a rich enclave some 15 minutes by auto from Zurich’s town centre, the residence was obtained by the shoppers in 2021. Although the shell of the structure was a Brutalist marvel, the interiors left a great deal to be preferred. “The former house owners lived in the home as it was designed,” clarifies Geyer. “There’s a time period in French, dans son propre jus, which implies to soak in ones juice. That was the problem with the interiors. So I experienced to go in and truly modify the atmosphere.”
What helps make inside renovations tough is operating in just a predefined space. What tends to make it even more durable is when that predefined place is cast in concrete from the hand of an legendary architect. “Because Gisel’s layout was so exclusive, I couldn’t just go in with the products I love functioning with silk, velvet. I experienced to conjure what the place allowed me to use.” This intended Geyer implemented a palate of blues, grays, whites. “I utilised metal, but then contrasted it with tough textures this sort of as materials, stones. It was a obstacle to not use the materials I typically gravitate in direction of, but what a gratifying encounter it proved to be.”
Although the finish outcome was just one the designer and property owners arrived to adore, obtaining to that stage was a logistical nightmare. “It was my first challenge in Switzerland,” Geyer describes, “and I didn’t know the hoops I would have to leap by way of in declaring each minor factor that I brought in from unique sections of the environment.” The inside designer is now performing on other various far more homes through Switzerland, and has vowed to not make the very same administrative faults.
But for Geyer, the head aches created the conclusion success all the additional meaningful. “My favorite component of the household begins and finishes with the kitchen area,” she claims with a smile. “I appreciate the curtains, simply because it delivers this sort of a textured splash of shade to the space. I had to be calculated with these times, to not cannibalize the artwork on the walls. But really, for me it’s really the inexperienced table that anchors the area.” Geyer made the table, together with an assortment of other parts of furnishings throughout the residence. “The reality that I was able to bring my very own models into the house manufactured it all the extra significant.”
The clients are major artwork collectors with two kids managing close to a recipe, some could muse, for disaster. “The property owners are extremely down-to-earth and have a great feeling of humor,” Geyer says. “They have a large amount of wonderful art on their walls, but they want to reside in a dwelling, not a museum. I suggest, appear, their philosophy is: Don’t stop your life for the reason that you have young ones. They have white carpet in their home. If that does not sum up how comfortable they are with kids working all over, I don’t know what will.”
