Life & Style | Home & Interiors
Darkened Skies
We visit a slick bachelor pad in the DIFC district where the colour in favour is black while the apartment hovers in clouds.
- By Devjani Cox, Freelance Writer, InsideOut
- Published: 00:00 July 1, 2010
- Image Credit: Christopher List
- The living area. Black dominates, broken with clever injection of colour via the artwork, light fixutres and cushions
When the InsideOut team arrived at the spectacular penthouse in the awe-inspiring Dubai financial district, the afternoon sun was just beginning its descent into the shimmering waters of the Arabian Gulf. Interior designer Liza Jimenez, along with her team, was running around putting the finishing touches in place - a bunch of pale gold orchids on the bar table, another bunch of lavender-blue rhododendrons on the dining table and a mixed bunch of aspidistra on a glass table in the foyer. Curtains were being tied with the most delicate of silver beads and paintings that had arrived not long ago were being straightened. "Do you need me after this?" Liza asks breathlessly as she prepares for yet another potential client meeting. The designer and her team had worked tirelessly that day to inject flashes of colour into the apartment which can best be described as a paean to modern day urban living.
"I want to live in an all-black space," Ramez Atteih, the owner of the apartment had told her when they had first met to discuss the project. He had seen her work in a previous client's office and had hired Liza pretty much at the same time as he signed on the dotted line to buy this double-storey extravaganza in the Sky Garden Tower, also known as the Fendi Building. Overall Liza adhered to that premise. Black is the colour that predominates - very dark wood panelling in the far end of the living room plays backdrop to a large mirror framed in black lacquer. Against this, Liza has placed a beautifully crafted sofa, again in black silk velvet. "I designed this sofa to suit the space and it fits perfectly," she says. A spectacular Pier Import light fitting, once again in black with touches of amber gold on the inside, hovers above the space. "I had to break up the palette here a little, just to add a touch of drama." she says. Taking a hint from this, Liza added gold cushions which she scattered here and there and against the black, and the sofa came to life, upping the glamour quotient considerably. Liza is very pleased with the way the living room has turned out. "Considering it was meant to be a flat black space, this area really stands out for me," she says. A large dining table from Q Gallery is offset by chairs from Kartell and light fittings from Galeries Lafayette. The table is set against a large bank of windows overlooking a quiet part of Dubai. The understated quietness is quite deceptive and this becomes evident only when night falls on the city. It is as if someone has waved a magic wand over Dubai and uttered the words, "Let the drama begin". And drama there definitely is. The boundaries between inside and outside are barely discernible and, like a scene from a Norman Mailer novel, a play of coloured lights changes the landscape into a sea of tomato aspic, lime jello, pale consomme and midnight ink. It is spectacular!
The master bedroom's main piece, the lacquered bed, was sourced from Nakkash Gallery, the chairs from Kartell. The bar off the kitchen was designed by Liza and the bar stools are from BoConcept.
Liza's love of furniture and design started as a little girl. "My mother would let me move the furniture around the house until I was happy with the configurations. This pleased me greatly and I spent many a contented hour changing things around. My own room was of course the main target and it went through many changes till I was happy with it." Normal teenage life did nothing to dampen her love of interiors, so it was a natural option when she opted for design as a career choice. Born and raised in Mexico city, Liza moved to Miami to attend university there, followed by a stint at New York's prestigious Parsons Design school. In Dubai, she has five years of interior design experience in both commercial and residential work. "I have worked on projects such as the DIFC lobby, Dubai Investment Corporation offices, Emirates Towers' Level 29 offices and the Sensasia Spa on The Palm."
When Liza first set eyes on this 4,700-square-foot penthouse, she saw thedowntown space as a blank canvas to be configured at will. But, as the process evolved, and because of the stipulated monochrome colour palette, it started to emerge as a slightly, one-dimensional space. Despite the client's insistence on sticking with black, hedid change his mind - a little - after he hosted a party, which is when he realised that splashes of colour here and there would lift things enormously. So Liza went about injecting lime green accents into the living space and shots of tangerine in the bedroom. "Design should consist of several components," she says. "It is a multi-layered process and involves creativity, knowledge of furniture and different types of fabric. But, most of all, it is about having great style!I really do not like matching, predictable design. I love fun and bright shades."
Hues that she favours at the moment include bright orange and white. Among her favourite pieces in the apartment are the custom-made lacquer framed mirror that opens up the living room area. She also loves the New York scene painting sourced from Nakkash Gallery. "It seems to light up as soon as you turn the lights on," she says. "I adore natural light and believe that it is such a great feeling to have daylight flood into a room. It really goes against my design aesthetic to have it veiled away. Unfortunately in the Middle East, people love black out shades."
Clients Liza likes best are those with great design sense and who trust her designing capabilities. "Otherwise why hire a designer?" she asks. "I don't believe in such a thing as a ‘bad client'. Every experience is either a business learning experience, a design tutorial or a lesson in relationship building."
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