A new name in the world of interior design, Rudy Gu&eacute;naire has gone from restaurateur to architect.&nbsp;

Photography by Ludovic Balay

Upon graduating from business school at the prestigious HEC in <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/daniel-roseberry-schiaparelli-fashion-designer-an-american-in-paris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paris</a>, Rudy Gu&eacute;naire seemed to have his destiny all mapped out. However, Gu&eacute;naire wanted something more, and at 24 years old set off on a four-and-a-half month <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/things-to-do-in-switzerland-winter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hike</a>, beginning at the border of the United States and Mexico and walking along the Rockies until he reached Canada. The solitude gave him ample time for introspection. &ldquo;You could go 10 days without crossing paths with anybody or anything,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;

After returning to France, Gu&eacute;naire eschewed a traditional job in banking or finance to open the first PNY <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/men/mory-sacko-french-chef-restaurant-mosuke-louis-vuitton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restaurant</a>, on Faubourg Saint-Denis in Paris, with his friend Graffi Rathamohan. Serving up burgers, crispy fries, and more, the popular chain&rsquo;s interiors are inspired by the many American diners Gu&eacute;naire visited during his hike across the country, but with a high-concept, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/first-space-hotel-inside-voyager-station" target="_blank" rel="noopener">space</a>-age twist.

"I still had something in my head that I wanted to do and couldn't find the right person for it."

The young entrepreneur always had an eye for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/fendi-casa-villa-medici-home-interior-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aesthetics</a>, which he cultivated during a childhood filled with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/beauty/travel-skincare-beauty-routine-tips" target="_blank" rel="noopener">travel</a>. &ldquo;My mother is a professor of classics and my father is a lawyer and essayist. They took me and my siblings around the world throughout our childhood, from a <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/fashion-museums-exhibits-2022-lexicon-of-fashion-harry-styles-dior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">museum</a> of antiquities in Cairo to the ruins in Syria,&rdquo; he says. So finding the right <a href="https://preview.lofficielusa.com/fashion-week/young-designers-to-watch-nyfw-fall-winter-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designer</a> for the restaurants was paramount.&nbsp;

He first called on Cut <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/studio-ko-architecture-interview-yves-saint-laurent-museum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Architecture</a>, and later worked with the Belgian architect Bernard Dubois on PNY&rsquo;s first eight locations, all in Paris. As they expanded beyond the city, Gu&eacute;naire took matters into his own hands. &ldquo;I still had something in my head that I wanted to do and couldn&rsquo;t find the right person for it, so I decided to go ahead and set up my agency, Night Flight.&rdquo; The name refers to the novel Vol de Nuit by Antoine de Saint-Exup&eacute;ry.

Not being a formally trained architect using 3-D software, Gu&eacute;naire creates all his designs in pencil. His influences include <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/nemacolin-resort-the-bachelor-hotel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frank Lloyd Wright</a>&mdash;not necessarily his aesthetics, but rather the way Wright incorporates <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/art/julian-charriere-artist-destruction-human-nature-not-all-who-wander-are-lost-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nature</a> into his work&mdash;and his pupil John Lautner, who designed the Chemosphere in Los Angeles in 1960. Gu&eacute;rnaire admits that he prefers poetic architects, finding those that are too dogmatic to be ultimately uninspiring.

"From sunrise to sunset, you can follow the sun like a painting."

Night Flight&rsquo;s first project was Gu&eacute;naire&rsquo;s own <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/carrie-bradshaw-sex-and-the-city-airbnb-apartment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apartment</a>&mdash;a former artist&rsquo;s studio in the 14th arrondissement. &ldquo;I imagined it as a boat, with rooms like cabins overlooking the courtyard. The main room is drenched in light thanks to a glass ceiling, resembling an upper deck,&rdquo; says Gu&eacute;naire. &ldquo;From sunrise to sunset, you can follow the sun like a painting.&rdquo; The apartment has minimal <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/travel-living/annabelle-selldorf-architect-furniture-design-vica" target="_blank" rel="noopener">furniture</a>, and what is there is often built-in. &ldquo;It allows for more breathing room. The space can hardly be modified because nothing can move.&rdquo;

PDY's Rudy Guénaire Talks His Entrance Into Architecture

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