Five questions with
David Leclerc
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Entering David Leclerc’s Paris apartment in the 7th arrondissement, we immediately noticed a photograph on the mantelpiece in his living room. It’s an unframed profile portrait of our founder, Marie, wearing a black beret. It’s surrounded by little wooden Japanese animals and tiny glass murrine that, put together, resemble a shrine. Leclerc, an acclaimed French architect and one of Marie’s dearest childhood friends, explains the photo has been there for years since her passing, when friends and relatives reunited at his house to celebrate her memory. Reminiscing with us about her work, he says his favorite glasses are the Berlingots, in all versions and colors. |
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Interview Caterina Capelli
Photos Alessandro Trevisan
Styling Erica Toffanin |
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Tell me about your relationship with Marie. You were close friends, but you also worked together, correct?
Yes. We met when we were very young thanks to my aunt, a good friend of Marie’s mother, Béatrice. We spent a lot of time together during weekends and holidays. Our friendship started when we were around 8 and never stopped. After I became an architect and she moved to Venice, she asked me to work for her and her husband, Brandino. First, I worked on renovating their apartment in Palazzo Brandolini, in Venice. Then we carried out many projects, one after the other.
She was passionate about taking on projects and liked building things. I’ll always remember when we worked on her Venice apartment’s living room; even with all the construction workers present, she would come out of her bedroom in her nightgown. She would then tell me, “You know, I love construction sites. I’d love to live on a construction site. I like having all these people around, and I’m sure I’ll be very sad when it is over.” |
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What’s your definition of creativity?
To me, creativity is in what I see. I’m a very visual person. I love and collect art. My aunt is the one who opened my eyes and taught me to be curious. Creativity comes from observation and how this observation nurtures what you do. Creativity also comes from the dialogue with whom you work. All good clients are people with whom you can have an enriching dialog. Sometimes, I’m very surprised because things I didn’t expect to be good turn out to be great. You don’t always have total control, and I like that. |
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When did you decide to be an architect?
One day, as a child, I went to the beach near Pauillac with Marie and Béatrice and started digging a hole. Then, I found some pieces of wood on the beach and built a roof. At the end of the day, I invited everyone to come into the shelter, and that’s my earliest memory of being an architect. From that day on, I always wanted to be an architect.
What do you collect?
I collect books; as you can see, there are lots of books in the house. I love to have books around me; they’re part of my environment. I also collect art, a passion that comes from my aunt, Brigitte Baer, who always took me to museums and galleries. This painting, for example, is called Etudes and is by Simon Hantaï. We chose it together. Another passion my aunt passed on to me is prints. She was a specialist in Picasso prints. She wrote the catalog raisonné of Picasso printmaker – this book just came out on her. And then, as you can tell from this apartment, I love chairs. I’m not able to explain why, but chairs have always been a “fetish object” of mine. Sometimes, I ask myself: why are you interested in collecting? Is it a narcissistic thing? Some people collect art to achieve social status. To me, it’s about relationships with people. I only collect things connected to experiences that are meaningful to me. It’s like saving memories, significant moments of my life that I want to keep track of. Every single artwork here has a story. |
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Despite embodying traditional craftsmanship, Laguna~B glasses have always been considered “contemporary.” What makes a work contemporary?
When you speak about art, contemporary means “of our time,” yet it can incorporate references to a lot of things from the past. But what makes a glass contemporary? When Marcantoinio asked me to participate in this project and make a personal selection of glasses, I realized that, even if I love the Goti, I was always very attracted to the Berlingots, and I use them on a daily basis. I love the stripes – as an architect, I love geometry – I love that you can see what’s inside, but I also love the color, which adds a new layer to what’s inside the glass. When Marcantonio introduced the Berlingot Evo, it felt like a dialogue between him and his mother. He was very respectful of her work but also reinvented what she did by simply adding a new color between Marie’s stripes. This new collection of Berlingots is almost like a dance... You know, Marie loved dancing. And I see these new Berlingots like a dance between them. Through the glass and through the colors, Marcantonio established a dialogue with her. That’s why I think this specific collection is so powerful, so simple, and yet so meaningful. It speaks about Marcantonio and his story. To me, contemporary is not about style, not about shape. It’s about who you are, how you express your emotions, and what you want to say. |
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Discover David's selection
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