Interior decorator Alberto Pinto, who died in Paris on November 5 at the age of 69, left a polished, protean legacy in the design world. The projects that came out of his 70-person Paris office were often swashbucklingly dynamic, replete with overscale patterns, bold color schemes, and sumptuous appointments that found favor with Middle Eastern royals and international captains of industry. A study in Cairo was paneled with wood inlaid à la parquet de Versailles, while a Geneva dining room’s Louis XVI scheme seemed to await the arrival of Marie Antoinette.In fact, very few styles seemed beyond his talents. Pinto explained in the October 1992 issue of AD, “I have no specific style or period that I am especially fond of,” adding, however, that he was enamored with “immense rooms, partly because I pride myself on knowing how to bring together immensity and comfort. Most people are afraid of houses on a grand scale, but I’ve always been completely at home in them.” Which perhaps explains why royals from the Middle East flocked to his door when it came time to decorate a new palace.

See his most impresive projects: