Bruno Moinard, architect/scenographer who’s reputation is well established, asserts himself through the elegance and pureness of his conceptions, elaborated to the last minute detail.  Inspired by a strong artistic dimension, being also a painter in his own right, his creativity expresses itself immediately and directly to the person opposite through means of his onyx-black and gilt sketches  which already outline the future.   Portrait of a man who communicates his taste for purity, culture and that which perpetuates itself further than the given minute.

Can one combine talent, fetish for perfection, mastery of execution, the scope of a creator and demanding artist with the qualities of simplicity, modesty and human warmth? Without a doubt since Bruno Moinard appears in this manner to each person encountered. Everyone seems to equally appreciate him for his professional rigor and for his sympathetic approach. In December 2004, during the inauguration of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs Parisian bookstore, whose new design layout had been conceived by Bruno Moinard, one of his school mates from youth came forward to greet him with enthusiasm and proclaimed: ”Bruno’s drawings were always the ones on display in the classroom since they were undisputedly the most beautiful”. Intimate memory from the past surging forward provoking a confrontation with oneself and a glance back on accomplishments achieved.

The years spent with Ecart International

Following his graduation from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art and a first experience with Hubert Cornier on a project for the famous restaurant Troisgros of Roanne, Bruno Moinard’s talent as a designer led to his integration in 1979 within Adreé Putman’s and Jean-François Bodin’s team in the context of Ecart and Ecart International. An adventure which lasted fifteen years during which he became Andrée Putman’s senior collaborator and permitted him to namely participate in one of the most memorable projects: the mythical Concorde airplane. He relates with emotion: “We managed to conceive an extremely lightweight decorative fitting, in other terms a second skin using high-tech methods which provided a new silhouette of the plane’s interior while preserving the existing structure. One could compare it to plastic surgery”. During this period, he elaborated boutique designs and graphic charts (Thierry Mugler in Paris, Yves Saint Laurent in the USA and Karl Lagerfield in France as well as on a worldwide basis), hotel designs (Morgan’s at New York, Le Lac in Tokyo, Roissy Airport Sheraton and Saint James Club in Paris, Im Wasserturm in Cologne), restaurant designs (Café Français at the New York’s MOMA, Opium in Tokyo, Orchid in Kobé) office interiors (Editions du Regard, Culture Minister Jack Lang, Arche de la Défense, La 7 Arte, Air France etc.) design for museums, foundations, exhibitions and many private homes - apartments and townhouses (Karl Lagerfeld, Jean-Paul Goude, Pierre Boulez…) In collaboration with Philippe Stark, he even participated in the decoration of President François Mitterand’s Elysée apartment.

From 1985 to 1995 he was responsible for Ecart’s research and design department comprising a team of fifteen persons. However, his aspiration was to found his own agency which he achieved in 1995 under the name 4BI. The architect explains “I took this opportunity for a new start at that time in order to express my creativity using my own name”; following the many years of experience acquired over a wide range of projects, he continued henceforth on his path with his innate maturity and the strength of his convictions.

Independence with the founding of 4BI

His sensitivity is the backbone of his designer office, 4BI. Three enigmatic symbols to ponder on but whose simplicity is a reflection of their creator: 4 for his 4 children, B for Bruno and I for Isabelle his spouse representing the family: a foundation, a solid base which lasts and evolves over the years. Thus, in 1995, the architect commenced his “second professional life” starting with the refurbishment of the Galerie Lahumière, in a private townhouse situated at Parc Royal, Paris. A frank success which retained the Rodin Museum’s attention who, in 1996, entrusted him with the design and layout of the exhibition entitled “Les Marbres de Rodin de la Collection Thyssen» as well as, the following year, “Vers l’Âge d’Airain, Rodin et le Belgique. Bruno Moinard’s distinctive touch is fully implemented: his encompassing mastery of light and shadow, his sense of contrasts and transpositions, his classic approach, his creativity which stimulates the visitor’s curiosity, leading him on an emotion packed journey of discovery.

The same year, his talent and generosity also convince the Fondation Cartier to entrust him with the design and lay out of their exhibitions, By Night and Comme un oiseau. He explains “This first task was the commencement of a long collaboration with Cartier in France and on a worldwide basis lasting until today and projected into the future.” In this context, he was entrusted with the following scenographies: Amours (1997), Être Nature (1998), Désert (2000) and Un art Populaire (2001)

Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Approach

During the same period, the famous watchmaker and jeweller also approaches him for the design and the launching of the Santos Dumont watch at the Trocadero in Paris. This collaboration expands to include the international scene with the design and lay out of the spaces dedicated to the commercialization of the Cartier’s Nouvelle Vague Collection in Europe, the United States and specifically in Asia (Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok) This type of creation which consists in adapting a basic concept to the demands of each city throughout the world, based on a balance between a classic approach and modern materials, is a prelude to the extensive task which is entrusted to the architect starting in 2002.

An important year for him since he conceives and designs the new worldwide Cartier boutique concept involving 220 locations to be accommodated with like radiance. Bruno Moinard’s magic pencils produce jeweller quality designs drawn freehand in presence of the famous owner. The first boutiques to be refurbished and embellished are Tokyo, Kobe and Tainan. Emblematic, the flagship boutique 154 Champs Elysées is dedicated to the the essence of the architects’ elegance and know-how projecting essentially a French culture, admired and respected worldwide. “I wanted a black marble façade using Portor – rare and veined with gold – present on the façade of the original boutique rue de la Paix; imposing windows using a shutter system derived from Haute Couture pleats opening in the morning and closing in the evening like a theatre stage. The floor is out of white stone highlighted with a brass incrustation inspired by the well known Cartier scroll used on their jewellery boxes. A subtle detail which silently recalls the legend and its symbols.”

In 2003 Bruno Moinard received the Janus prize for the design of the new Cartier concept. Then, during the “Sommet du Luxe et de la Création” held in Paris in November 2004, he was discerned the “Talent de l’Elegance”. During his speech, he declared “The speed with which the new Cartier concept was implemented is extraordinary. We elaborated it in three weeks… three year later, 80 boutiques throughout the world are already refurbished using this basic concept”. An exemplary tribute to the astounding rapidity of the small but dynamic team of the 4BI design office. The latter is composed of seven persons from different profiles, nevertheless complementary, permitting a successful follow-up of the different projects undertaken, regardless of the sector of activity.

Bruno Moinard’s vision and his aptitude to reconcile while highlighting tradition and modernity draw the attention of another important actor of the luxury field.  In 2002, François Pinault entrusts him with the interior design of the wine-making plant and cellar of Chateau Latour, located next to Pauillac in the Bordeaux  region.  This property had been acquired by the former in 1993, reinstating to France the famous vineyard which had been detained by the English for over 30 years. “It was suggested to me to create an abbey. I imagined a closed pristine space, a bit like a fortress with four small horizontal windows enclosing simply an interior volume..  It is not an abbey but a cathedral in homage to majesty and humility in a peaceful setting created by play of light and shadow, where delicate scents of the wooden barrels mingle with those of  the “gods’ nectar”. Multiple lights wink like so many fireflies in this grandiose space”explains  the architect contentedly, once again devoted to  pure lines and minute detail.

The inspirations of the architect and the painter

This already busy career is supplemented with other achievements significant for their specific theme or their global approach. One can cite namely : the scenography for the exhibition - Chaumet, deux siècles de creation (two centuries of creation) in 1998 at the Carnavalet Museum of Paris, the Roland Garros Tennis Museum baptized the Museum Tenniseum, inaugurated in 2003, the commencement of the refurbishment of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris which will continue on into next year, the implementation of the Kiora restaurant in Tokyo or, on the other hand, the creation of the furniture collection named Blanche for the HA2 in Japan.

One cannot evoke Bruno Moinard without referring to his strong ties with the culture of l’Empire des Signes as expressed by Roland Barthes, founded on the use of symbols, rituals and, at the same time, the sacred and eternity. As a matter of fact, there is a Japanese influence on this French architect felt by the decisiveness of the calligraphic stroke used for his designs, as well as the simplicity and purity of the lines, while searching to reflect the “soul” present in each object or location, in order to draw out the profound and discreet beauty in perfect harmony with time flowing past. Bruno Moinard embodies simultaneously the rigor of the samourai, a focus on high standards and the total mastery of his craft (in the Japanese sense of the term) but also a fascination for light, its intensity and its vibrations, inspired by his French roots and region where he lived during his childhood. Born in Dieppe in 1956,from the very beginning he lived opposite timeless space and infinity, the mysterious sea cloaked in morning mist formed by layers of delicate greys whose reflections intensify the luminosity, echoing the white glare of the chalk cliffs rendered famous by l’Aiguille Creuse and Arsène Lupin. A romantic atmosphere which rejuvenates the human soul and captivates the architect, who dedicates himself to his other passion – painting; trading in his pens and pencils for a brush, his travel sketch pads for an immaculately white canvas on which to transmit, between sky and earth, other visions of the world, whether they be fleeting or extemporal.

Astrid VITOLS