VIVRE SA VILLE

The architect whose Villa Sud won the Individual Housing Prize in the ArchiCOTE 2014 competition works internationally building eco-chic villas that interact with the landscape.

If Frédéric-Paul Goux chose to house his architecture practice in a sleek black build­ing in Super-Cannes, it wasn't because he intended to work sol­e­ly on the Riviera. Today his clients also ask him to build villas in particularly hip holiday destinations such as Mauritius, Miami and St Barts. To deliver the quality of service they demand, this dynamic, creative man has set up a virtual practice. This means the notion of having to coincide in time and place is no longer relevant: Goux works with architects on the other side of the world via cloud computing. He tackles projects as a whole and can be called in long before a villa reaches the design sta­ge: "Building a home starts with decid­ing where to buy the land, thinking about selling on in the future."

Sailing away
Villa Sud in Cannes, for which Goux won the ArchiCOTE prize, has a particularly strong architectural identity, its cantilevered design seemingly suspending it between sky and sea so it stands out against the landscape like a yacht. The Mediterranean light that has inspired so many artists is reflect­ed by glass and water at every level; the roof overhangs let the sun through in winter but protect from the summer heat. As in past times, the villa's functional aspects are
similar to a hotel: sepa­rate service entrances and utility rooms hid­den away. Beneath the family kitchen is a professional kitchen with a dumb waiter. And while the master suite opens onto the terrace and gardens, the children's bed­rooms are located centrally for ease of access to the most fre­quently used rooms.

Californian villas
"The idea of separate lounges and dining rooms is totally obso­lete now," says Goux, who talks simply of "living spaces", which he makes wonderfully light thanks to impos­ingly high ceilings and open-plan designs. Fol­lowing in the foot­steps of modern mas­ters such as Mies Van Der Rohe and Richard Neutra, he pays particular atten­tion to how his build­ings relate to their surroundings. One Goux signature is re­duc­ing indoor living space so as to maxi­mise semi-outdoor space. He designs villas whose rooms float among pools; his lines create frames that divide the view up into modern pictures. For one of his latest contracts, in Mougins, Goux takes his project management even further by completely deconstructing the space: this house has scarcely any walls save for sleeping and protection from the elements; its living spaces are neither indoors nor out.