Jean-Philippe Nuel,

Born in eastern France in 1961, Jean-Philippe Nuel grew up in a family where architecture and design were part of everyday life. His uncles were architects; his mother was passionate about contemporary art and designer furniture, including pieces by Saarinen, Bertoia and Castiglioni. Drawing appealed to him from an early age. After completing the science track of the French baccalauréat, he chose architecture and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, where he later specialised in architectural theory.

Before the age of thirty, he won several competitions, including an international one chaired by Kenzō Tange. His first hotel project grew out of a personal connection: a childhood friend and his family entrusted him with the renovation of the Clos Médicis, near the Jardin du Luxembourg. The building was extensively transformed, with only its façade preserved. Completed in 2000, the project marked the beginning of a career largely devoted to hospitality.

Jean-Philippe Nuel went on to design hotels in France and abroad, including Le Cinq Codet and the Molitor swimming pool in Paris, Les Cures Marines in Trouville, the InterContinental Hôtel-Dieu in Lyon and Marseille, and the Sofitel Villa Borghese in Rome. His work also extends to ships for Ponant, private residences and furniture.

For the maison Charles, he designed the Codet desk in bronze and lacquered wood. At the scale of a piece of furniture, it reflects the same attention to proportion, materials and use that has long informed his work as an interior architect.