WallPaper 3

PHOTOGRAPHY: IEVA SAUDARGAITĖ DOUAIHI WRITER: WARREN SINGH-BARTLETT

There’s a Daniel Buren on the wall. Actually, there’s

a single Daniel Buren occupying two facing walls and

another in the swimming pool, but we’ll get to that.

Remarkably, though, what is most noticeable as you

walk into Tony and Elham Salamé’s 30th-floor

penthouse is the view. Tightly packed Beirut tends

towards claustrophobia, but here the sweep of city,

sea and mountains is stunning.

The centrepiece of the apartment is a formal living

room with a triple-height hallway, a space to entertain.

The real family home, intimate and domestic, occupies

the floors above. Tying both parts together is the

couple’s art, a collection of some of the heaviest-hitters

in contemporary art. There’s a tennis court-sized

Richard Prince above the sofa, a striking black-and-

white Christopher Wool behind the dining table,

Arte Povera by Piero Manzoni in the TV room, and

vintage furniture, including pieces by Jean Royère and

his colleague Nadim Majdalani, a Lebanese architect.

The art spills into every area of the house, including

the children’s rooms, taking in Günther Förg, Urs

Fischer and Laura Owens, a Joe Bradley installation,

a Tracey Emin neon, an illuminated Jorge Pardo

sculpture, and a risqué Rob Pruitt sofa. ‘The kids chose

what they wanted,’ Elham says, pointing at a piece

from Richard Prince’s 2014 New Portraits show that

hangs in her eldest’s bedroom. ‘My son sent the woman

in that piece a message on Instagram. She was a bit

shocked when he told her she was hanging on his wall.’

The woman in question was Kendall Jenner.

The penthouse contains a fraction of the 2,500

works (by over 150 artists) that the couple own. »

DIFFERENT STRIPE

Tony and Elham Salamé’s Beirut penthouse

offers dizzying views, inside and out

ABOVE, LAWRENCE WEINER’S

UNDER THE TOP, 2012, AND

A TWO-PART DANIEL BUREN

PIECE, 2016, IN THE SALAMÉS’

LIVING ROOM. THERE’S

ANOTHER BUREN PIECE IN

THE SWIMMING POOL

In Residence

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