I've admired the work of Christian Liaigre for a long time. Yet when he called to suggest the idea of collaborating on a book, I had my doubts. Most monographs, particularly those on interior designers, leave me cold. They are never complete or comprehensive - how can they be if the designer is still alive? The photography is usually sourced from countless different photographers and the text is normally along the lines of 'When I was little I loved blue, and I still do.' Much as I'm a fan of Liaigre's work, I wasn't sure how it could make a compelling book. I was missing the story, and I told him so.

I"ve admired the work of Christian Liaigre for a long time. Yet when he called to suggest the idea of collaborating on a book, I had my doubts. Most monographs, particularly those on interior designers, leave me cold. They are never complete or comprehensive - how can they be if the designer is still alive? The photography is usually sourced from countless different photographers and the text is normally along the lines of "When I was little I loved blue, and I still do." Much as I"m a fan of Liaigre"s work, I wasn"t sure how it could make a compelling book. I was missing the story, and I told him so.

  Any other ego would have shown me the door, but Liaigre was open to my position. More surprisingly, he agreed with me. He didn"t want a book that was all about him. He didn"t even want a book that was all about his work. What he wanted was a book that would really get under the skin of his latest, and in his opinion most interesting, projects - specifically, his domestic projects. He believes in the old adage that there are no great designers, only great clients. The premise was simple: to feature a host of different properties scattered around the world - from a beach house in Galicia to an artist"s atelier in Paris to a loft in SoHo to an old farmhouse in Bavaria. The story was of both the similarity and the diversity of these projects; of the way that Liaigre"s modern and uncomplicated signature is subtly adjusted and adapted to each specific property and location. It"s clear that the clients commissioning a beach house in Spain will not have the same needs as those seeking a family home in Antwerp, or apied-a-terre in Paris for that matter. But many designers would nonetheless impose their will regardless of circumstance. The ability to maintain both consistency and appropriateness is something that really interests me, and so we agreed to proceed.

What neither of us anticipated then was the three-year labour of love our project would become. Organizing photography around the world is a complex business, particularly when the clients are successful, busy people.