In Profile:
Daniel Jibert Architecture

Name: Daniel Jibert
Company Name: Daniel Jibert Architecture
Position Within Company: Interior Designer
Website: https://danieljibert.com/

Tell us a little about your background in design:

I began my career in 1977 alongside Yves Taralon, the decorator and stage designer who
was, at the time, one of the most ardent defenders of the French art de vivre. From him, I
learned that every interior is a theatre waiting for its play.

Together, we opened the Galerie Pyramide in Paris, Rue Bonaparte in Saint-Germain, a hybrid space at the crossroads of interior architecture, contemporary furniture and fine art.
Designers, collectors and artists would mingle there, discussing art and the state of design.
Celebrities would also come to sit for portraits by the Mallorcan painter Joaquín Torrents
Lladó, who also worked at the gallery.

From the beginning, I have always approached art and architecture hand in hand. Each of my projects draws its inspiration from art, from the history of a place – I have designed residential and hospitality projects in cities such as Venice, London, Brussels and New York, as well as in many areas throughout France – and from the lives of the people who inhabit it, both spiritually and physically.

Maison Barrière Vendôme, which is my most recent project in Paris, opened in the city in January 2025, and in many ways it brings together all these different strands of my creative journey.

How would you describe your personal design style?:

I don’t think I can categorise myself as belonging to any particular style. I like to mix styles, to bring influences from different periods into the same space, and to create rich,
impressionistic interiors that produce emotion through a free interplay of colours, materials
and textures.

Fabric is particularly important in my work because it can completely transform our
perception of a space. The eye can travel from broad perspectives to infinitely small details
through texture. I believe a detail can carry an entire story. That is why magnifying details is
so important to me.

I tend to see my work as part of the continuity of a long and extraordinarily rich history of design. In a way, I see myself as a vessel through which that history can remain alive,
absorbing and bringing together many different influences. If I had to name a few, I would
mention the designer and ensemblier René Prou; the sophistication with which Henri Samuel
brought historical and contemporary art and furniture together; the avant-garde cinema of
Marcel L’Herbier; Jean Cocteau’s surrealist décors; and Renzo Mongiardino’s mastery of
illusion and theatricality.

Within this conversation between historical and contemporary design, I work through
materials: wood, bronze, glass, hand-worked plaster… At Maison Barrière Vendôme, I wanted
to create a poetic atmosphere, somewhere between dream and surrealism: water-green
walls, low light, sculpted birds, and a monumental bronze door that you cross almost as a
threshold into another dimension.

Where does your design inspiration come from?

My inspiration often comes from people’s lives. I read a great many biographies of people
whose destinies and choices inspire me, particularly the way they navigated very different
historical circumstances. They become figures who accompany me, in a sense, and whom I
return to at different moments in my own life.

That is one of the reasons why Maison Barrière Vendôme was such an exceptional project for me. It tells the stories of twenty-seven women, many of whom were already deeply inspiring figures to me. Maria Callas, for instance, is someone I have listened to all my life. Her talent and her extraordinary destiny struck me from a very young age.

For Vendôme, I spent more than five years researching archives, period photographs and
biographies, getting to know each of the women to whom the rooms are dedicated: Sarah
Bernhardt, Maria Callas, George Sand, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Marlene Dietrich, Alice Guy and
all the others.

Fabric became the central elements of this research. Looking at the lives of these women, I became fascinated by the role that clothing and textiles played in the way they presented themselves to the world. Dress could reveal something of their social position and
their public persona, but also of their independence, their choices and sometimes their
defiance of convention.

In that sense, fabric became a way for me to approach the different dimensions of their lives, public and private, social and intimate, and to translate something of their character into the rooms. So I researched the fabrics associated with each woman in depth, and from this developed a monumental rounded headboard for each room, using textiles chosen specifically for that figure. Each headboard became a kind of totem, from which the entire universe of the room could unfold.

The building itself, its architecture and historical setting, was another major source of
inspiration. On Rue de Castiglione, just steps from Place Vendôme, one of Paris’s five Royal Squares, the building stands behind an elegant neoclassical façade designed by official empire architects: Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine. The building carries this extraordinary history, and part of my role was to listen to it.

In what direction do you feel that design is moving towards in a general sense?:
Away, I hope, from the standardised codes of luxury. For years, great hotels have tended to
resemble one another: the same beige, the same marble, the same silence… What I sense
now, and what we tried to demonstrate at Vendôme, is a return to places with a soul:
narrative interiors, made by human hands, where craftsmanship is visible, where every space is unrepeatable, and where human stories are placed at the centre.

Name five key themes to consider when approaching design in the future.:

1) Emotion
For me, a room should stir the same emotion as a majestic sunset. Just as nature can offer moments of the sublime, design should create an intimate space for more dreaming, more imagination, and more meaningful stories. It should elevate the everyday into something extraordinary, a refuge from the growing harshness of the outside world.

2) Narrative
I consider each of my projects as a space that reveals the stories of people, whether rooted in the identity of a place or in the lives, memories, and figures that continue to resonate within it.

3) Heritage
At a time when everything has become increasingly image-driven, it seems more important than ever to me to hold on to the legacy of a place as a point of reference. Beyond its aesthetics, a place has an essence, a history, and a memory that should anchor the project. At Vendôme, we kept the timber staircase from 1802, the pans de bois and the vaulted cellars, so that people can literally walk through history. But heritage is also about carrying forward the rich history and savoir-faire of artisans and designers.

4) Craftsmanship and art
Cultivating a network of passionate artists and artisans, and bringing their different talents into dialogue through each project, is something I take immense pleasure in, and I believe makes each project unrepeatable – the transmission of savoir-faire, from the glassmakers of Murano in Venice to the gilders of Atelier de Ricou, and collaboration with living artists, such as Clémentine de Chabaneix.

5) Imagination
I am always looking to broaden my sources of inspiration, which allows me to trust my imagination.

If you could offer one piece of advice when it comes to designing, what would it be?:
Starting by listening to and observing the space. Since I was a child, I have had a strong
instinct for absorbing the volumes of a space and understanding the paths that can unfold
within it, and the stories that can emerge from it. It is about anchoring oneself in the place:
space, perspective, and architecture are all dimensions that form a whole. How can we
create harmony and magnify the space by moving elements and projecting shapes and colors into the room?

Which products/services could you not live without when designing?:
Access to highly skilled craftsmanship and to the network of specialized Maisons I have
worked with and cultivated over the years is indispensable to me. It is also very important for
me to align my vision with the different stakeholders involved in each project such as the
architect, the hotel brand, etc.

What are your aims and goals for the next twelve months?:
I am very excited about what the year ahead holds for Maison Barrière Vendôme, as it
continues to welcome more visitors and build its community of guests. Likewise, I have a new project in discussion that has already captured a great deal of my attention and will lead me to delve into the lives of new powerful figures.

Your most treasured possession?:
My imagination

Your favourite holiday destination?:
Venice. Knowing that this city exist makes me think that i can never
get board.

Your favourite hotel, restaurant & bar? :

Hotel: Cour des Vosges in Paris, near by the Place des Vosges in Le
Marais, by Evok Collection, for its spectacular interiors decorated by
Lecoadic-Scotto.

Restaurant: Anahi in Paris, for its delicious Argentinian meat.

Bar: Longhi at The Gritti Palace in Venice, for the view over the Grand Canal and the Salute.

Your favourite book, film & song? :

Book: Biographies. It’s impossible for me to choose just one.

Film: An Affair to Remember by Leo McCarey, for the subtlety of its
character writing.

Song: any Bossa nova song. It always takes me back to the years I spent living
in Brazil when I was younger.

Your favourite food and drink? :

Food: An opera

Drink: A hot chocolate

Your favourite way to spend an afternoon? :
Going to the Saint-Ouen Flea Market during the week-end

If you weren’t in this sector, what would your alternative profession be? :
I was lucky enough to have another life before design when I was
working as a perfumer many years ago.

Anything else interesting? :
Excited to be at the Awards evening!