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Design Blog Design Blog » Ingo Maurer

Video: Provoking Magic

Ingo Maurer’s most lively exhibit in the historic Andrew Carnegie mansion was his installation of the Carnegies’ portraits above the grand staircase. Andrew and Louise Carnegie gazed out over the magical exhibition Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer and provided their own commentary on the mansion’s transformation under the lighting wizard.

“It was time for a change, Louise...”

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie

Ingo Maurer and his extraordinary team of designers and technicians have managed to dramatically transform the second floor of the Carnegie Mansion into a fiesta of lights and objects. But Maurer uses a sensitive touch while maintaining the original character of this grand domestic space. If anything, he has made it even more intimate and gemütlich, or cozy, covering part of Mrs. Carnegie’s bedroom walls with dazzling LED wallpaper that is echoed by the chandelier, One Thousand and One Lights. One can almost imagine Mr. Carnegie sitting in the chair in the corner of his bedroom pondering the central chandelier, A Memory of Shanghai, or Was it Cairo?, and the LED coffee table below it. As Mr. and Mrs. Carnegie’s portraits gaze down over the grand staircase, noticing the “new lights” in their house, I hope they like the view. I think the Mansion has never looked better.


Louise Carnegie’s bedroom


Andrew Carnegie’s bedroom

Photos: Virginie Blachère