Villa San Francisco is the first French artistic residency in the United States, conceived as a space made by artists, for artists. Studio Mortazavi approached the project as both design and cultural curation — crafting an immersive expérience de vie that bridges France and Northern California. The Villa becomes a living dialogue between creative communities, informed by the spirit of Agnès Varda, JR, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Yves Béhar, Yvonne Mouser, and Jay Nelson.
The interior language draws from Wayne Thiebaud’s French Pastries, blending Californian luminosity with the tonal richness of French culture. Wall compositions reinterpret the proportions of Villa Medici moldings, while Daniel Buren–inspired stripes conceptually travel from the Palais-Royal to San Francisco, anchoring the space with a graphic gesture. More than a residence, the Villa is designed as an evolving canvas — a place of immersion, exchange, and continual reinvention shaped by each artist who calls it home.
