Heinz Julen's father August was a mountain guide and accustomed to seeing VIPs stop by his tiny little restaurant high up above Zermatt (2,100m above sea level). Zermatt is a village on the foot of the Matterhorn, the most photographed mountain in the Alps.
Artist, gallery owner, designer and architect, the multi-talented Heinz Julen was brought up amid these beautiful mountains and therefore maintains a somewhat spiritual relationship with his surrounds. It comes as no surprise then that he took unending inspiration from them and his artistic talent is evident in his 200-square metre apartment that faces the Matterhorn, one of the highest mountains in the Alps. Almost every item inside the apartment is Julen's creation, starting with the kitchen table with its ‘floating' design. The table is suspended from the ceiling with wires, which can be pulled up to clear the space below. "You can have a dance floor in seconds and you don't even have to clean the table while the guests are present," says Julen explaining its charm.
In pictures: A home in the Alps
Furniture and art become one when Julen lays his hand on it. The armchairs, for example, are made from different materials such as wood, leather and metal, and are inspired by suitcases. When opened they provide comfortable and very original seats.
Julen wonders whether he is humbled by this project and decides that it was more of a challenge, "to be able to reach out high towards the peak."
The designer has challenged himself before. In 1980 he carried out his first self-taught experiments in construction and design, using everything that others would have thrown away, and adapting objects away from their original function. In the end he was left with useful items like furniture and kitchenware. "I made my first paintings and sculptures this way as well using everyday objects," he says.
Two years later, he left his hometown and joined the School of Fine Arts in Sion for a year. "Just long enough to realise how much I need the mountains," he says. Julen considered himself not one for the strictures of a study programme and soon discovered that art was his true vocation, for up until then he had been a ski instructor.
At first, painting was just a way to earn money, and he made his living through his depictions of the Matterhorn, which he sold to tourists in a resort at Zermatt. However, his style of painting eventually gravitated towards contemporary and he also took on sculpture, "to make something with my hands". At present, Julen runs a successful gallery in the mountain region and his own art has been exhibited in renowned galleries from Munich to New York.
The exterior of the chalet has been adapted from traditional styles. It has a gabled roof with Corbusier-style boxes with huge glass fronts. The playful contrast continues inside. Dense concrete ceilings and floors sit amid plenty of wood. Glass is also used liberally forming part of the gallery floor and the surrounding walls of the bedroom, offering floor-to-ceiling views of mountains beyond.
Julen was involved in the building of the apartment from start to finish, from the first sketch to the last bit of shelving, and from the shell of the building to the design of the smallest piece of furniture.
In 2000, one of his prized projects, Into, encountered a setback. The hotel was to be the highest hotel in the world, located only a few hundred metres below the peak of the Matterhorn. Unfortunately, it was torn down.
Despite being nearly bankrupt, Julen bounced back with other successful architectural projects, like the MHS (Matterhorn Highway Stadium). In collaboration with architect Michel Clivaz, he redesigned the Rothorn ski area, and they are currently working together on hotel projects in Morocco (Bouznika), and Verbier. Julen also launched a new line of furniture - Into the Object - and his design story came full circle with the re-opening of the original restaurant Enzo-Vrony with his partner, Thomas Sterchi. So here we are. Back at the beginning of the journey through the life of Heinz Julen.
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