The four \u2018bubble houses\u2019 from Antti Lovag (1920\u20132014) are much more than flying saucers. They were designed to rewrite the rulebooks of architecture. From the outside, you\u2019d think they were straight out of a sci-fi film or some 1970s cartoon. We now discover that they foreshadowed the evolution of architecture made possible by 3D printers.<\/p>\n
The most famous of Antti Lovag\u2019s bubble houses is venerated in schools of architecture worldwide: the Palais Bulles, perched on the heights of Th\u00e9oule-sur-Mer, draped over almost 12,915\u00a0sq\u00a0ft and looking down on the Mediterranean. The house is made up of an open-air 500-seater amphitheatre, a reception room for 350 guests, a lounge with a panoramic view, ten suites, and countless gardens and swimming pools. Its current owner is none other than fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who bought the property in 1992. \u201cCellular forms have for years seemed to me the physical expression of my ideal environment. And this house clinging to the rocky outcrops of the Est\u00e9rel massif has become a little corner of paradise for me<\/em>,\u201d Cardin explains.<\/p>\n So #SoBarnes naturally didn\u2019t want to miss out on the sale of Antti Lovag\u2019s fourth bubble house. The property is just north of Lyon, in Fontaines-sur-Sa\u00f4ne. Listed as a Historic Monument in 2017, this 3,767 sq ft house is designed as a network of bubbles. Couple H\u00e9l\u00e8ne and Christian Roux from Lyon had it commissioned it in 1985. To understand the house, you have to surrender to its spaces, adjust your sight to its rounded contours, forget your references and soak up the place's unique atmosphere. Rather like at the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia in Barcelona. You have to rethink everything. You have to willingly give yourself over to the edifice\u2019s curves. There\u2019s not a single corner or straight angle in sight. And don\u2019t bother looking for any. Antti Lovag loathed them. From the corridors and swimming pool to the lounge, no space breaks the rule: everything is circular, spherical or elliptical. Including the furniture, which the architect also designed in line with his thinking.<\/p>\n Adjustable and flexible, the furniture can be moved around. And the walls open and close to adapt to the seasons. For example, the bubble dining room \u2013 attached to the kitchen \u2013 can be opened at will for an open-air lunch on the 646\u00a0sq\u00a0ft patio, weather permitting.<\/p>\n\n\t\t