Rearranging guest rooms at Villa Medici: the Academy of France in Rome launches a call for proposals

A call for projects to refurbish and furnish guest rooms in the historic Villa Medici building. The Academy of France in Rome - Villa Medici is partnering with Mobilier national, with the support and guidance of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, to promote contemporary creation in the field of craftsmanship and design, through a call for projects also supported by the Banque Populaire Foundation and Maison Tréca. This will involve contemporary designers, architects and artists working in teams with artisans to give a new identity to the Villa Medici rooms.

At the end of a two-month application period, projects will be selected by a jury composed of Alberto Cavalli, executive director of the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship and general curator of the Homo Faber Event, Hedwige Gronier, head of cultural patronage at the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, Hervé Lemoine, president of Mobilier national, Christine Macel, director of the musée des Arts décoratifs, India Mahdavi, architect, designer and set designer, Isabelle de Ponfilly, president of the board of the École nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs, and chaired by Sam Stourdzé, director of the Academy of France in Rome - Villa Medici.

The call for bids calls for the refurbishment of three rooms by 2023, and then two more calls will follow in the coming months for the refurbishment of nine rooms in total. The call for bids is part of an ambitious refurbishment project for 2025 entitled Restoring Enchantment to the Villa Medici, based on an unprecedented partnership with Mobilier national, with the aim of bringing design,architecture, interior design, upholstery and table arts into dialogue.

The commitment of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation alongside Villa Medici is part of the common goal of promoting contemporary creation in the field of artistic craftsmanship. For this reason, the Academy of France in Rome - Villa Medici and the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation are launching a residency program dedicated to crafts this year. In this context, two artistic craft projects will be hosted annually in residence at Villa Medici. The first two residents selected are metal turner Mylinh Nguyen and designer duo Caterina and Marc Aurel.

With the same goal in mind, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation also supports Villa Medici’s Residency Pro pedagogical program to strengthen awareness of art crafts. This educational program for vocational and agricultural high school students in the French regions, launched in 2021 by the Academy of France in Rome - Villa Medici, aims to work each year on a skill related to the fields of excellence of professional currents to explore all technical, social, craft and artistic expressions. In 2023 six hundred students will be welcomed to Villa Medici from the Grand-East and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions.

To participate in the call for applications: https: //villamedici.it/attualita/bando-di-concorso-per-la-riqualificazione-delle-camere-di-villa-medici/

Image: Aerial view of Villa Medici © M3 Studio

Rearranging guest rooms at Villa Medici: the Academy of France in Rome launches a call for proposals

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