Aline Asmar d’Amman, through projects such as the renovated Hôtel de Crillon, the reimagination of the Eiffel Tower’s Jules Verne restaurant, and cooperation with Karl Lagerfeld on his functional sculpture collection, infuses luxury design with deeper context shaped by childhood experiences of war. The Beirut-born architect d’Amman is founder of the firm Culture in Architecture, based in Paris and the city of her birth.
Contributed by Alicia Sheber
What is your definition of luxury?
Luxury is the thrill of strong emotions born from discovery, an experience of a space that makes its narrative relevant and meaningful. Luxury is also using our precious time to learn, touch and feel something exceptional and, in hospitality design, leading guests to intuitively uncover this experience. Curiosity drives our studio to find and emphasize every project’s unique qualities, combining history, legacy, volume and materials with a brand’s essence. From the tiniest object on a shelf, our designs include art and craftsmanship that are true to the story.
How does cultural resonance enhance the luxury experience?
Simply by making it unique! Our studio has three pillars: Culture – our strongest foundation, the greatest human testimony that defines who we are; architecture – the purest expression of material poetry; and emotion – the ultimate resonance of what we seek and remember.
Connecting with each project’s cultural context is the first step in defining the uniqueness that makes it rare, and therefore luxurious. We commission local craftspeople to create modern interpretations of tradition and heritage that enrich human interaction. When guests sense the thought process and details that form the DNA of our designs, they become active participants in the luxury hospitality experience.
What new projects you are working on?
The coming year is full and exciting! I feel very privileged to continue the conversation with Karl Lagerfeld. Our studio carried out the studies and development of Architectures, his functional sculpture collection created as a tribute to “antiquity”: the origin of beauty and modernity. Nothing compares to the excitement of working with the great master and his immense ability to share his knowledge and passion for excellence. His design aesthetics and multi-faceted talents are life lessons in themselves!
Following a year-long competition, we were recently awarded the interior design renovation of the legendary Jules Verne restaurant on the Eiffel Tower’s second floor, alongside Michelin-starred chef Frederic Anton and the Sodexo Group. What an adventure to tackle the history of Paris’ most iconic monument with a strong, feminine vibe. The décor will honor Parisian decorative arts and echo the cuisine by encapsulating the delicate balance of the raw and the precious. Creating an intricate dialog between a monument, a restaurant in the sky and haute cuisine is incredible.
What’s your favorite rule to break?
People say I have a punk spirit deeply rooted in a severe education. The creative force is driven by the unexpected. It forms the poetic soul of the world. Imagination has hardly any rules, and I treasure the childlike feeling of constant enchantment. In the quest for beauty, I challenge the status quo on many levels while staying true to my beliefs. For example, my projects embrace patrimonial legacy yet integrate operators’ requests for modern lifestyles. The hospitality landscape is a fabulous playground where design redefines boundaries by adding edgy touches of irreverence, as we did at the Hôtel de Crillon with Rosewood. It’s stimulating to work with a group that sets new standards by celebrating the artful and the unexpected – while definitely breaking some rules!
What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Karl Lagerfeld once taught me American decorator Elsie de Wolfe’s motto: “When I draw a set of plans, there is no second option.” I admire Karl’s quick intuition and bold, cultivated approach to design. It’s all about staying true to that first impulse and creative spark.
What do you wish people knew about you?
I wear lots of artisan accessories and jewelry, both for aesthetics and to help me think and define materials and colors – I’m a moving concept board! Those who know me are aware of this, as well as my book obsession. I read at every opportunity, and in the most difficult situations, they become my all-in-one yoga-meditation-relaxation therapy! Books recharge me. The ultimate luxury is having multiple copies to avoid carrying them around, plus the ability to immediately offer one to someone with the same addiction!
Any passion projects?
I’m very attracted to writing, and begin every project by developing a sort-of movie script that imagines how visitors / characters respond to space and context. One day, I’d love to write a book, something very personal with fiction, poetry and inspirational quotes. I’d also love to play the piano again like I did in my teens after years of practice.
