Seine Design, Paris, France
President of SEINE DESIGN
Born in Albertville in 1954, he graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Paris in 1978. After graduating, he went to teach architecture at the University of Aleppo (Syria), before joining, in 1981, the Atelier de Montrouge where he perfected his training with Jean-Louis Veret.
In parallel with his first terrestrial projects, he directed for Sodexo the “Maurice Chevalier” (1989), a restaurant pier located at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The prestigious operator then entrusts the realization of its entire fleet: scenic restaurant boats of 400 seats, trimarans walk of 600 seats and river shuttles Batobus. This collaboration will lead the architect to dedicate himself fully to the floating architecture.
To develop it in France and internationally, he created the agency SEINE DESIGN (1996), a floating architecture and naval engineering workshop. He trains a multidisciplinary team, multicultural and rigorous, able to carry any floating project around the world. From its inception, the agency exports its know-how to London, New York and Dubai.
For 20 years, Gérard Ronzatti dedicated himself to boats and restaurants. At the beginning of the 2000s, however, he replaced floating architecture at the center of his thinking. Equip and enhance the territory by the river, it is now all the work of the architect. Highly exposed in the heart of the city, it is an architecture that he wants exemplary and able to carry all the projects of society. Its architectural references testify to it. In 2010, he designed the “Adamant”, a psychiatric day hospital moored at the foot of the Charles de Gaulle Bridge. In 2016, he created a 4-star floating hotel, consisting of 58 rooms, a restaurant and a pool, the “OFF Paris Seine” (Paris). This is the first time that a floating building has been awarded an architectural prize.
As part of the “Reinventing the Seine” contest, Gérard Ronzatti conceives three winning projects with a wide variety of programs. A sports and wellness center, a museum dedicated to urban art and a bakery with its own mill will soon be docked on the most beautiful banks of Paris. More than ever, his desire to bring floating architecture back into the field of architecture can be seen on the river.
- MIPIM Awards 2018 in the category “Best Hotel & Tourism Resort”, for the floating hotel “OFF Paris Seine”, Paris, France.
- Eiffel Trophy of steel architecture in the “Voyager” category, for the floating hotel “Off Paris Seine”, Paris, France.
- ARCHIDESIGNCLUB Awards 2017, in the category “Hotels”, for the floating hotel “OFF Paris Seine”, Paris, France.
- Eiffel trophy of steel architecture in the “Diverting” category, for the floating “Rosa Bonheur sur Seine” tavern, Paris, France.