The Interiors Monologues - Marc Sadler
The greatest designers of the century talk about Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century
The interior designer Marc Sadler is a citizen of the world. Born in Austria, he moved to Germany at age four, then France, and has lived and worked throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. In the early 1970s, he designed a revolutionary ski boot, and has experimented in the sporting arena ever since, particularly embracing new technologies. Through his travels he has adapted an eclectic style that embraces a multitude of cultures, evident in the home interior (above) that he shares with his wife, Paola.
This former factory in Milan’s Zona Tortona industrial estate is, he says, “not really a designer house; it’s a mixed-up house.” It is filled with artwork and full of color, much of it created by the Sadlers themselves. The living area on the first floor is an airy space, filled with light that streams in through the large, full-height windows.
This open space contains an area to relax in, the dining room, and the kitchen. Old cast-iron columns provide evidence of the property’s industrial heritage. The interior was completed in 2008, but Sadler says the residence is always “in progress.” He adds, “Our home was not meant to be a copy of us. We didn’t want a mausoleum but a place for us, our children, and our cat.”
This beautiful dwelling is featured in our new book, Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century, which highlights 400 of the world's best living spaces created by over 300 of the most influential people in interior design. (In keeping with such a mammoth and ground-breaking undertaking we decided to make it available in four different color cover choices.)
In this interview we asked Marc what it means to be featured in Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century and what is the most important aspect of a room that aesthetically minded buyers of the book can focus on. And, of course, we obviously had to ask him where in his own home he'll be placing his own copy of Interiors.
"The book has so many wonderful interiors that it's very difficult to make a choice as to a favorite. That being said, a place that I truly appreciate is the house of Luis Barragán who was able to integrate in a perfect blend Modernism in architecture with materials and solutions of a traditional, everyday Mexican life. The result is a place where life and work harmonically coexisted. Another fact that makes me love this place is that he considered the house such as an organism in constant evolution, i.e. never finished. This is a characteristic that brings us together."
"How do I feel about being named in the book as one of the greatest interior designers of the century? Unreasonably, slightly vain!"
"I have a small room on my own nobody can enter. It’s a place where I can think, surrounded by my things in a messy confusion that belongs to me. At home they call it 'Marc’s thinking room'. Regarding what people can do to make themselves comfortable at home I really don’t know, it’s such a personal matter that everyone will give a different answer, all of them being valid."
"I have the platinum gray edition in the studio among other books and magazines. Rather than being a status symbol it’s a work tool, a source of inspiration for my job.”
Take a look for yourself and choose your own version of Interiors: The Greatest Rooms of the Century here. And check back in the coming days for our next interview with a designer from the book. Meanwhile, you can see more of Marc Sadler's interiors and product design here.