Designer interiors around the world

2 September 2021

More than twenty evocative homes of famous artists, from painters to directors, alongside some of the most significant works of 20th century Modernism, including masterpieces by Alvar Aalto, Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and Luis Barragán. This is Interior Voyages, the photographic book created by Parisian photographer Matthieu Salvaing and published by Rizzoli New York, 256 pages, 200 color photographs, a series of surprising interiors, places to discover and enchanting settings to be inspired by. 

Page after page it becomes possible to virtually visit famous homes such as the Acapulco mansion that Frank Sinatra shared with Mia Farrow, alongside exclusive residences designed by architects such as Marcio Kogan, Isay Weinfeld and Stéphane Ghestem. 

This volume is not “just” a beautiful sequence of interiors, but it also contains the incredible story of the author, which would deserve a special book: photographer Matthieu Salvaing has been traveling the world for more than twenty years, he developed his style and photographic techniques in Arles, Provence, and at the age of sixteen he produced his first photographic documentary in Andalusia. One year later, at the age of seventeen, he traveled to South America where he met and developed a strong friendship and collaboration with world-renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer. This meeting will define his love for architecture, pushing Salvaing’s career in a new direction and on a perpetual journey from his native France to his beloved Brazil, passing through Mexico, Scotland, India, Italy, Lebanon and Morocco.

Powered by an obsession with furniture and attention to architectural detail, Salvaing captures the dreamy elements of often neglected spaces, such as a luxurious, wild corner of the sumptuous Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, or a romantic film set by Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai of a Hong Kong that no longer exists, providing endless inspiration for interior design enthusiasts.

Salvaing’s camera doesn’t just transport the viewer into a specific interior, but with his masterful manipulation of light the photographer manages to accurately convey the feeling that a room evokes, reconstructing the atmosphere and transferring the allure of the time. Just glance through the book to be thrown into unique interiors, such as Villa Necchi in Milan, built by Piero Portaluppi during the Thirties, or experience a Seventies ocean-front adventure in the Arango Residence in Acapulco, a concrete building with sinuous curves designed by architect John Lautner. Each page represents a place, a style, a journey, a dream.

Credit: © Interior Voyages by Matthieu Salvaing, Rizzoli New York, 2020. Photography © Matthieu Salvaing

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