KALEIDOSCOPE
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
by Isabel Duprat
​
The beautiful view of the sea in Ipanema, punctuated by the Cagarras Islands, with all the hues, lights and movements offered to us by the passage of days and seasons, was the grand prize.
This penthouse apartment was the pied a terre of a decorator born in Morocco, who lived in Paris. A man of great sophistication and contagious exuberance. In love with Rio de Janeiro, he wanted to have an address here, to come and go.
​
He wanted his terrace to be full of color.
​
So, I thought to add to his taste for orchids and make a large mural of flowers in blocks of color strolling as in an abstract painting sparkling with joy, a kaleidoscope. It is not the idea of a green wall or vertical garden that, to me, often looks like camouflage with walled plants in unlikely places. Most orchids grow like that embedded in tree branches or in stones next to each other or in blocks. Miltoneas, epidendruns, renantheras, catleyas, dendrobiuns, oncidiuns, phalaenopsis, make the show.
Under the mural, as a receptacle for irrigation, I made a plant bed with Davallia fejeensis and philodendrons. Licking the wooden slats, the fragrant stephanotis fills with white flowers.
​
A beautiful brass vase houses a lone Weitchia palm.
​
Bringing the sand color of the sandstone that coats the floor, a patinated wood slat covers the planters and the walls surrounding the pool. A sculpture by Franz Weissmann lands on the overflowing water. With the mirror we brought the sea closer to this small pool.
​
This was a garden of colors and delicacies to enjoy up close, in contrast to the vastness of the landscape spread out ahead.
