Giorgio Armani 2012: He Prefers Contemporary Rugs to Sisal
Posted by Abid Ilahi on Fri, Jun 08, 2012 @ 11:59 PM
1. Today Giorgio Armani prefers contemporary rugs in pure silk. Ten years ago he chose sisal rugs for this New York apartment. What does this tell us about future trends in decorative rugs and about Giorgio Armani evolving tastes in interior design? Here Armani is seated on a pale blue silk rug in the living room of his winter getaway near St. Moritz. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.
2. In 2002 Giorgio Armani and Interior designer Thomas O’Brien used sisal rugs throughout Armani's Central Park West Penthouse. Today this living room feels stiff compared to the freer, more confident living room Armani and his design team created for his 2012 Swiss retreat pictured below. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.
3. Giorgio Armani's living room featured in the June 2012 issue of AD has a large contemporary rug made of pure silk. Note the unconventional placement of the sofa on the rug- a third of the rug extends behind the sofa. This unusual placement feels freer than the tight layout of 2002. Image and Armani quotes courtesy Architectural Digest.
Armani's worked with his own design team to create this high-ceilinged living room from the shell of a 17th-century barn near St. Moritz. They installed a glass curtain wall to reveal a spectacular view of the Alps.
There is extensive use of mahogany throughout the house. Armani likes mahogany because it has.. “a color and texture that convey a deep sense of warmth.”
4. Another view of Armani's Swiss living room showing two more seating areas, each defined by grey-blue contemporary rugs in pure silk. The rug on the right also appears in image 1 and that is how we know that it's color is blue and not golden beige as it appears in this view. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.
Note how the placement of the silk rugs is very different in the two seating areas- these two rugs are under the large coffee tables, but do not extend under the chairs. Mixing different rug placement approaches is more interesting. It also shows off the beautiful mahogany floors.
The contrast between Giorgio Armani's stiff 2002 New York living room and the free floating 2012 Swiss living room shows an evolution to a freer decorating style.
The new freedom in Armani's decorating style encourages me to also be more experimental as well. Some decorating rules are just waiting to be broken so new possibilities can arise.
5. Giorgio Armani in 2012. This is another part of the the living room.Armani calls it "the winter garden". Note how the two sofas sit entirely on the contemporary rug which does not extend beyond them. This creates a delicious textural transition from the plush pile of the purple silk contemporary rug to the dark polished surface of the mahogany floor. Image courtesy Architectural.
6. Giorgio Armani in 2012. The dining room in the Swiss home has a large contemporary rug with a simple border of cream bands on a taupe background. The rug covers the entire dining room leaving a foot and half of the mahogany floor showing. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.
6. Giorgio Armani's 2002 bedroom in the Central Park West Penthouse with a sisal rug. This bedroom now feels austere when compared to the Swiss bedroom designed in 2012, see below. Image courtesy Architectural Digest.
7. Giorgio Armani's 2012 master bedroom in his Alpine retreat has a fur bed coverlet and a shimmering silk contemporary rug. Image and Armani quotes courtesy Architectural Digest.
Armani's 2012 interiors are luxurious, but in a pure and understated way. Like his clothes, Armani's interiors avoid ornamentation and extreme styling. He describes his approach - “It is about the essentials. Forget about every type of excess and concentrate on elegance achieved through simple lines. Beauty must be consistently linked to functionality, because wherever one is living, it should be a place where you feel totally at ease.”