Stunning Bubble House Renovated and Open to the Public

You can immerse yourself in these concepts via a visit to France, where a famous house by Hungarian architect Antti Lovag was just renovated back to its colorful, sculptural splendor

Or you can take a virtual tour via the photographs of Yves Gellie, who documented the results.

French philanthropist and industrialist Pierre Bernard had this very unusual family holiday home built in the 1970s in Théoule-sur-Mer in the South of France. The architect was Antti Lovag, a Hungarian “habitologist” (see explanation below) famous now for his radical bubble houses – among them the Palais Bulles, or “Palace of Bubbles,” a residence he created for fashion designer Pierre Cardin. Lovag had almost 20 years and unlimited funds, no deadlines and complete freedom from Bernard to finish his utopia. He lived on the premises to see his vision take form. Now the renovation of Maison Bernard by French architect Odile Decq has been completed, with a focus on color (vibrant pink, orange, bright yellow and neon green) and distinct identity for each space. The face lift took five years and was commissioned by the Maison Bernard Endowment Fund. The house is now open to the public and its gorgeous revival and reopening has been captured by photographer Yves Gellie.

The visually stunning abode, built with a re-bar frame and cast layer of concrete, was inspired by the local terrain. Lovag was very much interested in ancient human dwellings such as caves, and one can clearly see that influence both on the outside and in the interior where dwellings blend freely. It’s very organic with its bulbous curves and circular openings, but also reminds us a bit of a ship with its typical portholes or even spaceship. It was also vital to Lovag that his houses, aside from being visually extravagant, would be very inhabitable – so important he coined the term habitology. In addition, the notion of freedom was crucial to him, freedom of imagination, beauty, expression and harmony. The curves he favored, in his words, are “a more natural extension of man’s movements and gestures.” The latter, to him, were circular in nature: “Conviviality is a circular phenomenon. The circle structures the way human life is carried out.” Circles also factor hugely because a circle is the simplest construction; it has just one dimension, the radius.”