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    “The irresistible draw of Bridgerton reflects our need for a new aesthetic”

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    Netflix TV show Bridgerton’s interiors will lead to a return of the exuberant Regency style to distract us from our troubled times, says Michelle Ogundehin.

    The second series of Bridgerton, which streams tomorrow, will prompt a major new look for interiors. As I wrote in my trends report for 2022: “This sentimental recolouring of history will prompt a Regency revival as we freshly appreciate the uplifting potential of architectural adornment, both inside and out”.
    This statement was about a lot more than the show being a Netflix winner — apparently, 82 million households watched season one in the first 28 days after launch in December 2020.
    This was a historical moment that shares more than a hint of an echo with today
    Bridgerton is indeed escapist, diverse and sexy, just what was needed in the thick of Christmas lockdowns. However, it’s the resonance of the 19th-century British Regency setting that makes it so influential from a style and cultural point of view. This was a historical moment that shares more than a hint of an echo with today.

    And yet, the Regency was but a brief snapshot in time. When the sitting English monarch, King George III, was deemed unfit to rule his eldest son stepped in as proxy from 1811-1820. He was named the Prince Regent, hence the period moniker The Regency. In theory, he deputised as king until his father passed, at which point he himself was crowned King George IV, ruling for the next ten years. He died in 1830.
    In reality, he had little interest in the responsibilities of governance or the previously admired piety of his father. Instead, he used his new-found influence to indulge his love of architecture to fashion. Such extravagance didn’t come cheap though.
    He incurred a huge amount of debt and was bailed out repeatedly by the taxpayer via Parliament. It was a significant pivot point in English cultural history.

    “Any period of sobriety is generally followed by heady abandonment”

    The Prince Regent, who spoke four languages, propelled extraordinary advances in the arts, design, music and sciences. New decorative styles burst forth inspired by everywhere from Egypt to India.
    The steam-powered printing press was invented. He commissioned the exotically ornate Brighton Pavilion as his personal pleasure palace replete with hand-painted Chinese wallpapers and domed cupolas. He remodelled Buckingham Palace, initiated Regent’s Park as well as the National Portrait Gallery and hosted many a lavish party.
    Romans de clef penned anonymously by aristocrats of the day captured the fervour (and provided much entertainment for the lower classes). For the upper echelons, life was fun, fashionable and frivolous. The antithesis of what had come before.
    And this is the mood that Bridgerton, based on the books of the contemporary American romance novelist Julia Quinn, perfectly captures.
    Ornamentation for the sake of it is everything
    Thus, in this glossy televisual romp, as in the Regent’s time, we witness the pursuit of pure escapism via a highly stratified social scene where only the aristocracy enjoys the newly unleashed decadence. The upper-class ladies of “the Ton” attend balls and take tea, while the men debate the mores of the day safely ensconced in their gentlemen’s clubs, whiskey in hand.
    Layers of pastel-coloured, heavily embellished silken clothing (for men as well as women) are mirrored in rooms adorned from floor to ceiling in delicately hand-painted idyllic verdant scenes, or exotic portrayals of the Orient – the imagined perfection of both near and afar.
    Ornamentation for the sake of it is everything. Fragrant wisteria drips across perfectly symmetrical facades. Trims and tassels finish drapes and upholstery. Extravagant gilt frames surround flattering portraits while elegantly patterned dinnerware and fluted coloured-glass goblets adorn tables laden with food.
    It’s ridiculously pretty, a word that’s not often used in design circles.
    When the world is in extreme turmoil, creativity flowers
    As such, the haute styles of the day epitomise an abject denial of the wider reality. For the backdrop to this flagrant profligacy was great political and economic upheaval following the American and French Revolutions. Not least the ongoing Napoleonic Wars with their legions of conscripted commoner troops battling to prevent France’s invasion of lands from Europe to Russia. Closer to home, poverty was also rife.
    And yet it’s a truism that when the world is in extreme turmoil, creativity flowers. Those possessed of an artistic temperament, such as the Prince Regent, rail against the zeitgeist and drive it somewhere new. This is what happened n the Regency, and it’s ­the period I believe we’re entering now. Thus, the irresistible draw of Bridgerton reflects our need for a new aesthetic.
    But, we see it blossoming already in the pattern and colour-infused parades of zingy flamboyance on the Spring Summer fashion catwalks (hot pink and vivid green seemingly the strongest hues after beige was hailed the “in” shade for 2020). It’s in the return of feathers, frills and flounces on frocks, even shoes, which translates to the home as richly adorned and embellished fabrics for upholstery and accessories

    “Grey alone would be too depressing for 2021’s colour of the year”

    Large scale murals as wall coverings have been bubbling up for a while as homeowners tried to replicate green spaces within urban environments, but now they’ve hit the mainstream. And the look of hand-painted Chinoiserie gets a high-street outlet as British interiors brand Harlequin debuts a very timely first wallpaper and fabric collection from the British artist Diane Hill.
    Traditional techniques like marquetry for furniture are seeing a resurgence too, following the growing trend for parquet floors. The ceramic mosaic tile market is predicted to rise by 8.3 per cent and DIY panelling as a means to add intrigue to walls is clocking 100,000 searches a month on Google.
    The birth of a Neo Regency is simply a reaction to life being so relentlessly draining for such a long time
    Tablescaping, the art of laying a decadent table, which came from tastemakers looking for ever more inventive ways to express themselves within the confines of their homes, is now a widely understood concept. Accordingly, sales of table linens and placemats are soaring, while vintage crocks inspire nostalgia and granny’s “best sets” are brought out for everyday usage.
    As I wrote in my trends report, denial begets indulgence. Like the Roaring 20s after the horror of world war one.
    On a wider scale, the birth of a Neo Regency is simply a reaction to life being so relentlessly draining for such a long time, the everyday battered first by hidden foes and now more painfully visible ones. Such a move, with its inherent decadence and delicacy, is a rebellion. A lurch from lockdown to levity, come what may. A forceful jettisoning of gloom and doom.
    Except this time around, it’s not about ignoring tragedies happening “elsewhere” than fervently wishing to celebrate small moments of joy and unexpected luxury in any way we can, wherever we can. To decorate our nests is a primal instinct. It’s how we mark our territory, signalling that we have a personalised place of retreat to return to. It’s why losing your home, or homeland, is so incredibly traumatic.
    The Neo Regency then is less a single prescribed look, or colour, than a dive into the “extra”. Or to put it another way, the previously deemed unnecessary.
    Essentially, it’s do pretty, as you damn well please. No justification required
    It’s outfitting a luxe laundry room or papering the kitchen ceiling in something fabulous, maybe respraying the units lemon yellow and painting the downstairs loo turquoise. According to Pinterest, searches for Rage Rooms have increased by 150 per cent, while on the other end of the emotional scale, home massage room searches have increased by 190 per cent.
    Architecturally we’ll see a corresponding embrace of ornamentation. A revival of pergolas, porticos and decorative brickwork alongside the classical tropes seen on original Regency buildings in Britain’s heritage cities like Bath and Brighton.
    Essentially, it’s do pretty, as you damn well please. No justification required. But without pastiche. This is Neo Regency, not faux Regency.
    Michelle Ogundehin is a thought-leader on interiors, trends, style and wellbeing. Originally trained as an architect and the former editor-in-chief of ELLE Decoration UK, she is the head judge on the BBC’s Interior Design Masters, and the author of Happy Inside: How to Harness the Power of Home for Health and Happiness, a guide to living well. She is also a regular contributor to many prestigious publications worldwide including Vogue Living, FT How to Spend It magazine and Dezeen.
    The photography is courtesy of Netflix.

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      Inventing Anna interiors “richer” versions of their real New York counterparts

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      Production designer Henry Dunn drew on locations across New York to create a set that reflects the different social classes that the protagonist of the Netflix series Inventing Anna traverses.

      The head office of media publication New York Magazine, Rikers Island jail and the 11 Howard hotel in Soho all appear as exaggerated versions on the 11-episode series which was released on February 11 2022.
      “Our thinking all the way through this was the different varieties of wealth and the different types of socio-economic classes that Anna travels through,” Dunn told Dezeen.
      “We’re trying to sort of hit all of these different types of wealth and the disparities as best we could.”
      Henry Dunn created lavish sets for the upper-class charactersThe series is a dramatisation of journalist Jessica Pressler’s quest to write How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People, an article for the New York Magazine that went viral after exposing the antics of the now-convicted fake heiress Anna Delvey, who’s real name is Anna Sorokin.

      Created by American television producer Shonda Rhimes, Inventing Anna follows the lead up to Sorokin’s trial, while simultaneously going back in time to illustrate her actions.
      To recreate the main locations Sorokin visited and lived in while galavanting around New York, Dunn decided to make sets both in-situ and from scratch at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York, a feat which Dunn describes as “a balancing act”.
      Expensive furnishings and finishes symbolize wealth”We started at the very beginning of 2019 and we had some big beautiful stages at Steiner Studios but we realised that we didn’t have enough space for all of the things that we needed to build,” Dunn explained.
      “We were very much trying to illustrate that there’s old money and then there’s art money and then there’s real money, which is the tech billionaires.”
      For the wealthiest character, the production team sourced six different wallpapersThe home of one of the wealthiest characters in the series belongs to Nora, a woman who Dunn refers to as “a real art person who’s loaded with dough”. It is one of the most featured sets in the series.
      Using research gathered from people who reside in New York apartments, Dunn built a duplex designed to look like a large townhouse in New York.
      According to the designer, Nora’s status is best symbolised in the furnishings and decor that adorn the set.
      “The way we really nailed her [Nora’s] place on the socio-economic ladder was in the finishes: whether it was the Venetian plaster, the antiques, the wallpaper or even the backsplash in her kitchen which is a tile that isn’t affordable to normal humans,” Dunn explained.
      “Nora’s house had maybe five or six different wallpapers, including the ones up in the up in the guest bedroom, where Anna is living,” he added.
      Some sets were created in buildings in New YorkTo further establish Nora’s status in the upper echelons of society, the designer worked with an art specialist to source paintings by artists such as Michel Basquiat and Yves Klein for the interior decoration.
      “We had a wonderful person working with us for arts clearance and so we were able to get all these artists that would have been untouchable that we had to build,” said Dunn.
      “Obviously, it’s not the real thing but they would send us a high-resolution file and then we would repeat over it so you could see the brushstrokes,” he continued.
      “Having that sense of legitimacy meant that people understood that this well-curated piece of character-dressing is meant to tell you who this woman is.”
      Others were built at Steiner StudiosBy contrast, Dunn wanted the journalist’s home to seem “a little dumpy” to help viewers recognise her lower social status. Her home appears cluttered and ordinary – serving to cement her position in New York society.
      “We built Vivian’s house on stage – it’s not a very big apartment and we were trying to make it as realistic as possible for two people who are expecting a baby,” he said.
      The journalist’s home is designed to contrast the expensive homesCreating sets from scratch gave Dunn the freedom to embellish the sets and to elaborate further than what would have been possible if they filmed everything in its original place.
      For example, he constructed the bedroom and lobby at the 11 Howard on stage, drawing on interior designer Kit Kemp’s chintzy work at the Crosby Street Hotel for inspiration.
      “The 11 Howard, which was the hotel where Anna stayed has a minimalist style that we thought would look pretty threadbare on screen so we went for something that would read as much more rich on stage,” he remembered.
      “We were going for with something that was more tactile and sort of a more layered look to it.

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      Another technique Dunn implemented was to mix high-end furnishings and homeware items with cheaper replicas that still gave the illusion of wealth.
      Placing something from a high street brand next to a luxury designer can make the scene feel and look expensive on television while in comparison to reality, said the designer.
      “A magic trick is if you put something in the right setting on television, you can get something like glasses at H&M or Target that will look incredibly deluxe while actually not being practical at all,” he explained.
      “Place them next to plates from Van Cleef & Arpels and they look perfect.”
      The Manhattan Magazine headquarters is based on the New York Magazine officesDue to legal reasons, the series had to create a fictional version of the New York Magazine, but Dunn wanted the made up magazine’s office to look similar to the real magazine’s headquarters.
      Again, he took the opportunity to create an exaggerated “expanded and blown up” version of the real workplace, this time adding a bright red wall to the backdrop.
      “We got to tour our location manager got us in there to walk around and see how the journalists lived,” said Dunn. “And so we researched it closely and then we really tried carefully create those offices as closely as possible.”
      “We’re trying to do something a little more, a little extra – there is a big red wall that says New York Magazine that you see when you come in and we took that and we sort of expanded it and blew it up,” he continued.
      Half of the prison scenes were shot in a real prisonThe main challenge for Dunn came as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Halfway through filming the series, restrictions meant that the team had to change locations and delay some filming, meaning that many scenes had to be shot in two places.
      “We began shooting at the prison here in the city called Rikers Island jail and when the pandemic came, we still had 50 per cent of our scenes to shoot,” he recalled.
      “I don’t think anybody at home has any idea but the waiting room and the room where Anna and Jessica meet were in completely different spots,” he mused.
      Other Netflix series with elaborate sets include the playful arenas by art director Hwang Dong-Hyuk for the popular series Squid Games and production designer Grant Major’s set for the award-winning film The Power of the Dog which featured a prominent house.
      The images are courtesy of Netflix.

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      Asylum in Ratched designed to look like “a beautiful person with a really dark secret”

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      Production designer Judy Becker treated Lucia State Hospital like a character in its own right to ensure that the gruesome psychiatric institution takes centre stage in Netflix thriller Ratched.The asylum is rich with unexpected architectural details – undulating glass-block walls or vast panoramic windows hidden behind floor-to-ceiling curtains – that are begging to be noticed.
      This is a stark contrast to much of Becker’s Oscar-nominated work, in which sets generally act as backdrops that merely complement the characters and action on screen.
      “I haven’t done this often but in the case of Ratched, I really wanted the building to draw attention to itself as a character,” Becker told Dezeen. “It’s a bit of a misdirect when you see this gorgeous building and the well-dressed patients but then the most horrible things are happening in this place.”
      “It’s like a beautiful person that’s got a really dark secret,” she added.

      Above: Doctor Hanover’s office has panoramic windows. Top image: The hydrotherapy room has a glass-block wall

      The show tells the origin story of Mildred Ratched, the antagonist of Ken Kesey’s classic American novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and head nurse at Salem State Hospital.
      But while the book and subsequent 1975 film adaptation depict their setting as a bleak, clinical place with whitewashed walls, Ratched’s Lucia State Hospital tells a very different story.

      The asylum’s lobby is an almost exact replica of that at Arrowhead Springs Hotel
      That’s because Ryan Murphy, the series’ creator who is known for spearheading hyper-stylised shows such as American Horror Story, Scream Queens and The Politician, wanted the set to look less like an institution and more like a fancy resort that had been converted into a hospital.
      “I threw away all my research on the grim asylums of the 1940s,” said Becker. “Sometimes it’s really warranted to do a very frightening-looking set design for a very frightening story. But the horror in Ratched is a little over the top, so you can balance it with all this beauty and that dichotomy works really well.”
      The show went on to become one of the most successful Netflix shows of the last year and was watched by 48 million people within the first month.
      Ratched’s set replicates a real grand hotel
      Set in northern California in 1947, the series follows young Mildred Ratched as she weasels her way into working at Lucia State Hospital.
      Through her story, the series explores some of the questionable approaches to mental healthcare at the time – from lobotomising patients by drilling a hole into their skull, to “curing” their homosexuality by locking them in a near-boiling bathtub in the name of hydrotherapy.

      Dorothy Draper often incorporated white stucco features and black and white checked flooring into her interiors
      To ground the show in reality despite its stylised depiction of these horrors, Becker originally planned to shoot on location at Arrowhead Springs Hotel near San Bernadino, California.
      Designed by Los Angeles architect Paul Williams in 1939, the complex features sprawling rooms and Hollywood Regency-style interiors by Dorothy Draper – one of the period’s most notable designers.

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      But the hotel’s owners refused to allow any filming to take place on-site, so Becker and her team ended up erecting a near replica of its interiors on the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angles.
      Over the course of three months, the team reproduced Draper’s trademark stucco features and checked, monochrome flooring, as well as entire rooms based photos and measurements.

      Lucia State Hospital’s exterior was filmed at the Gillette Ranch near Malibu
      The lobby with its thick columns and chandelier reflected in the lacquered, black flooring was replicated almost entirely, while the inbuilt hexagonal shelves and sinuous fireplace mantel Draper designed for the hotel lounge were transposed into the patients’ recreational area (below).
      “It was a huge set,” explained Becker. “It looks like one place on screen but we had to build it over two different sound stages, which are these big hangars. There were so many rooms and so many elements and we would keep adding new ones as new episodes got filmed,” she continued.
      “Finally, there was no more space to build anything and we had to move the paint shop and some of the little dressing rooms outside to make more space because we just needed every inch of it.”
      “I like to work with a very deliberate colour palette”
      Since the set had to be furnished from the ground up, Becker worked with decorator Matthew Ferguson to source real period pieces from the time. To fill the huge rooms, these were bought in multiples where possible or otherwise, matching pieces were fabricated from scratch.
      “Everything was custom upholstered. I tend to do that because I like to work with a very deliberate colour palette and it’s impossible to find exactly what you need just lying around,” said Becker.

      The patients’ lounge features inbuilt shelves and a sinuous fireplace inspired by Draper’s interiors
      Green is perhaps the most prominent colour in the show and features liberally throughout the asylum, as well as in the cliffside motel where Mildred Ratched makes her temporary home while working at the hospital.
      “Green is a great colour because it’s very period-correct of the late 40s. And it can be a very unsettling colour or a pleasant one, depending on the shade,” said Becker.
      “If you use a green with more yellow in it, it tends to feel anxiety-inducing while one with blue undertones is more relaxing and makes you think of swimming pools.”
      Each shade that made it into the final show was painstakingly tested on different furniture pieces and in various lighting conditions, to ensure that it was conveying the right effect.

      Each patient’s room features different floral wallpaper
      Becker also added warm hues of coral and peach to keep the hospital feeling inviting and deceptively “non-horrific”, while the tiled floors and walls were held in neutral black and white so as not to clash with the costumes.
      “I think if you had green walls and green nurses uniforms and this and that, it just would have just been too much,” said Becker. “It probably would have won an Oscar if it was eligible because too much design tends to.”
      Fake foliage and curtains made windows look real
      According to Becker, perhaps the biggest downside to shooting on a set is the fact that the view out of the windows has to be created completely artificially.
      Often, directors will work with a Translight – a transparent polyester sheet that is printed with an image of the desired setting and lit from behind to create the appearance of a real exterior scene. But Murphy and Becker agreed that this fell short of the realism they were hoping to accomplish.
      “They pretty much always look fake,” she said. “Nothing is moving and the lighting doesn’t change like it would in real life.”

      Curtains and fake foliage created the impression of real windows
      Instead, she hid most of the windows behind semi-translucent curtains and set up a veritable greenhouse of real and fake plants on the other side to create the appearance of foliage.
      “We had someone on set tweaking them to camera so that the shadows and reflections looked real and not always the same,” Becker remembered.
      “There were fans blowing on the foliage and fans blowing on the curtains, so it was a very elaborate process to get the light coming through the window to look appropriate on camera. I designated an art director to be in charge of just this process because it was so important to Ryan.”
      All images are courtesy of Netflix.

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