In 2017, a quintuplex atop New York’s famous “Woolworth Building” went on sale on the market for $ 110 million. Which makes it the most expensive apartment in New York history.
The renovation of this property was carried out by the French architect and decorator Thierry Despont. Every year, “Vanity Fair” draws up the ranking of the fifty most influential French people in the world.
43rd in the Vanity Fair ranking
Thierry Despont Architect
In 2016, he ranks 43rd. The social rise of this Limougeaud is as discreet as it is spectacular. Born boulevard Louis-Blanc in Limoges, in 1948, Thierry Despont grew up in rue des Argentiers. He returns regularly to his hometown, when Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, Conrad Black, boss of the press group Hollinger, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Michaël Douglas, whom he counts among his clients, give him time.
Because Thierry Despont has a schedule of Minister of Foreign Affairs. When he is not in London, Monaco or Los Angeles, he stops at the Ritz in Paris where he follows the renovations.
Thierry Despont Architect
It was his father, architect rue Jules-Guesde in Limoges, who passed on his passion to him. Trained at the Lycée Gay-Lussac, where he obtained his baccalaureate, he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, where he obtained, after six years of study, his architectural diploma.
In 1972, pushed by his teacher Maurice Novarina, he joined Harvard University and specialized in urban planning.
Invited to fulfill his military obligations in the service of international cooperation, he spent two years in Iran and worked for the international architectural firm Llewelyn Davies. In 1979, he joined the head office in New York and then shortly after opened his own desk. There the adventure begins.
Calvin Klein, his first client
« There are wealthy people in the United States who want to build a house. They don’t want a simple roof, but a place where they can make their dreams come true »Explains Thierry Despont. In Europe, we restore. In the United States, the entrepreneurial spirit is developed. People are not afraid of creation, ”he continues. With this in mind, he began to draw houses. His first clients were Calvin Klein, entrepreneur and stylist, and Conrad Black, financial mogul and newspaper boss.
Thierry Despont Architect
In the process, Thierry Despont was selected, in 1981, as associate architect for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. This project, which has considerable scope, strengthens its notoriety. “ He allowed me to settle down »He explains. His name circulates in the most prominent artistic, political and economic circles. He turns to interior and exterior fittings.
Wealthy people favor creation
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Delivered turnkey
The houses are delivered turnkey. The customer just has to hang up his clothes in the changing rooms. One thing leading to another, Thierry Despont is developing his agency, which now has a little over fifty people.
With his clients, Melinda and Bill Gates, Milard Drexler, Ralph Lauren, Michael Douglas, the most popular residential architect in the new world forges close ties. Because everything is done in consultation. He proposes and the clients dispose. He realizes, as he says, the house of which they dream. Dreams that come at a price. His creations are billed between 150 and 350 million dollars.
Palaces and museums
However, Thierry Despont regularly broadens the scope of his skills. In 1996, he was entrusted with the interior renovation of the Getty Center in Los Angeles. On this occasion the “Los-Angeles Time” devotes a portrait to him. He is described as a “slender man with a smart face dominated by a pair of chunky rimmed tortoise shell glasses in mustard color, who possesses the quick smile and easy charm that are as essential to a designer’s success as they are. a good eye ”.
I have evolved my career towards a diversified portfolio.
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The greatest palaces in London, such as “Claridge’s”, “the Dorchester”, those in Paris, such as “Crillon”, “Peninsula” or “Ritz” among others, have called on her skills. It took him four years to work on this last project. The site was pharaonic.
Thierry Despont Architect
“He succeeded”, as the newspaper “Le Point” noted ” the feat of retaining the magic of the prestigious hotel while combining it with cutting-edge technologies “. The regulars of this palace on Place Vendôme are full of praise. The Chanel spa, unique in the world, created by him, arouses the admiration of regulars.
Asked about the renovation of Dorchester Collection, the best collection of five-star hotels in the world, Thierry Despont considers that the secret of his success is curiosity.
« There are a lot of things that fascinate me, so I have carefully developed my career into a diverse portfolio, which sparks my creativity. », He confides. Despite his schedule, he finds the leisure to go to the Ile d’Yeu, where he likes to relax, and to Saint-Yrieix where his roots lie.
Jean-Francois Julien
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