Richard Peduzzi is evidence that 82-year-olds can still be multifaceted revolutionaries. It became apparent early on that the Frenchman’s love of life would not be one-dimensional. He’s polyamorous, if you will: He initially studied at a drawing academy in Paris, but then decided to devote himself to painting. However, he soon grew tired of standing at an easel and chose set design as his medium. “It requires drawing skills, reading, listening to music, and keeping my eyes open to the world,” he says.

Peduzzi has created countless spaces for theater, opera, and film; perhaps the most famous in Germany to this day are the sets for the 1976 Bayreuth Festival’s Ring of the Century. Peduzzi was just 33 at the time and the opera’s director, Patrice Chéreau, was even younger, then 31 years old; the duo’s unconventional staging led to a leaflet campaign against it, petitions, and even physical fights. It takes guts and deep trust to entrust such a man with a typical Viennese apartment in a Neo-Baroque landmark (the courageous client is an opera lover, art collector, and long-time acquaintance of Peduzzi who prefers to remain anonymous).

Richard Peduzzi stands here in front of Haus von Innen (House from the Inside), 2013, by Miriam Cahn and a black-and-white painting, Peninsula, 2020, by Sarah Crowner, an artist based in New York.

The dreamy wall landscape in the salon is by Jongsuk Yoon; the South Korean artist created a huge mural, Kumgangsan (Diamant Mountain), for Vienna’s Mumok last year.

Peduzzi is not the type to settle with discreetly weaving in a bit of modernity under historic stucco ceilings while subtly modifying a traditional floor plan. Instead he will remove walls, floors, and an apartment’s decorative details as he completely reimagines a space.

From the oval salon, if you go to the right, you reach the kitchen and some other functional spaces. Head to the left and a double door leads into the dining room, and from there into the living room. Together, these more public areas are almost 1,400 square feet and form a wonderful enfilade. The salon serves as the central hinge of the layout. Its serene round shape exemplifies what characterizes the apartment: First of all, there are the sweeping, huge chandeliers, custom-made from brass, while discreet ceiling rail lighting creates different lighting moods, just like in a theater. Then there is the new elegant oak parquet flooring. All the rooms have different patterns while small ceramic inlays provide bold splashes of color.

Pastel tones (all colors are from Argile) are used in the oval salon where there are marquetry chairs and an intimate round table, whose shape is repeated in the chandelier above it and in the Mikado carpet designed by Peduzzi. Models of the custom furniture are displayed on the bar. Next to the door hangs a piece by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and above it is a work by artist Miriam Cahn, who was awarded the Goslar Kaiserring award in 2024.