Luis Laplace is an Argentine architect who, with his partner Christophe Comoy, founded and runs the Paris-based Laplace practice, where he is the head designer. He is known for his work for and in collaboration with the art gallery Hauser & Wirth, and has been included in several of Architectural Digest's annual AD100 lists.
Early years
Laplace was born and educated in Buenos Aires, Argentina,[1] He is the son of a lawyer father and airport-manager mother, who divorced while he was still a child.[2] He obtained bachelor and masters degrees in architecture and urbanism at the Universidad de Belgrano, graduating in 1995.[1]
Following graduation he worked for Selldorf Architects in Argentina and Mallorca,[2] before being employed at their in New York headquarters between 1999 and 2004.[1]
Career
Laplace founded his eponymous architectural practice in 2004, with his business- and life-partner Christophe Comoy, a former lawyer who serves as CEO.[3][4] Laplace is the head designer.[3][5] The practice is headquartered on the Place Saint-Georges, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France.[1][6]
He has a longstanding relationship with the art gallery chain Hauser & Wirth.[5] He has worked on their galleries in Somerset, Gstaad and St Moritz.[5] Their art centre on Illa del Rei, Menorca, opened in July 2021 after a conservation project overseen by Luis Laplace,[7] repurposing existing historic buildings.[8] The gallery was awarded the Best Social Responsibility Initiative by the Government of the Balearic Islands in September 2021,[9] listed as one of the '2022 Works of Wonder' by the international editors of Architectural Digest[10] and named 'Best Art Destination' in the 2022 Wallpaper* Design Awards.[8] His work on the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Paris, a 19th-century hôtel particulier,[11] won the restoration category in the 2024 Wallpaper* Design Awards.[12] He also designed the presentation of a 2024 exhibition of works by the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida at Hauser & Wirth's Minorca centre.[13]
Laplace's other clients include Adriana Abascal,[2]Mick Flick, Emmanuel Perrotin and Cindy Sherman.[1] He has worked on residential projects in France, Hong Kong, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, and the UK.[1] He has collaborated with artists and designers including Phyllida Barlow, who painted a ceiling mural for his refurbishment of The Audley, a pub in Mayfair, London;[5][14]Martin Creed, who painted the staircase of the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Paris;[12]Rashid Johnson, who designed a mosaic floor for Mount St. Restaurant at The Audley;[14]Piet Oudolf, who landscaped the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Somerset and their centre in Menorca;[5][15] and Anj Smith, who made a painting in a turret at The Audley building.[5]
Laplace was included in Architectural Digest's annual AD100 list, which recognizes the most influential interior designers and architects around the world,[16] in 2017,[17] 2018,[18] 2019,[19] 2020,[20] 2021,[21] 2023[22] and 2024.[23]
Personal life
Laplace and Comoy live in an apartment in the same Paris building where their architectural practice has its office.[1][24] They also had a home, Santa Magdalena, on Illa del Rei.[1][6][25]
