"Wearstler describes the result as a kind of 'Alpine Brutalism,' a phrase that captures the project's central tension: the muscular geometry of New Brutalism softened by texture, craft, and a distinctly California ease. As critical architectural history argues, Brutalism was never merely a style but a 'contrarian, direct, and anti-dogmatic modernist sensibility'."
"If California Cool conjures neutral palettes, layered natural materials, and an effortless relationship to landscape, Wearstler translates that ethos into a high-altitude key. Earthy greens, charcoal tones, warm ochres, and garnet reds anchor the interiors, while brushed alpine woods and locally quarried stone pull the drama of the surrounding peaks inside."
"The Piano Lounge announces a dialogue between strength and soul. Guests descend past a custom sculptural staircase with brutalist-inspired balustrades into a double-height volume clad in textured pine, its surface treated to enhance tactility and acoustics. At its center sits a bespoke Edelweiss piano, subtly customized in collaboration with the UK-based maker."
Kelly Wearstler's redesign of L'Apogée Courchevel's dining spaces introduces 'Alpine Brutalism,' a design language merging Californian Cool with New Brutalism's muscular geometry. The project spans five distinct zones calibrated for mood, materiality, and mountain light. Rather than cold austerity, the design employs raw elegance through monumental forms softened by tactile woods, near-black stone, and natural fabrics. Earthy greens, charcoal tones, warm ochres, and garnet reds complement brushed alpine woods and locally quarried stone, creating interiors that feel like geological extensions of the surrounding peaks. The Piano Lounge exemplifies this approach with a double-height volume clad in textured pine, featuring a bespoke Edelweiss piano that grounds the space in both performance and provenance.
Read at Design Milk
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