Near Bassin de la Villette, this small apartment Parisino has all the brands of the 60s: an aerodynamic and functional distribution, simple volumes and large windows oriented in two directions: street and garden. But when his new owners bought it, he continued «as is,» explains Anthony Benarre, the architect in charge of renewal. False moldings imitating the Haussmann style everywhere, even in the doors, soils and papers painted different in each room … the whole lacks cruelly coherence, sobriety and logic. The 65 square meters are divided into just two rooms for the benefit of a double room, with the kitchen in front of the room, next to the bedroom (see plans at the end of the article). From the beginning, Anthony Benarroche was guided by two intentions: to give this promising department a functional fluidity, as well as a general harmony, to make the light in.
1. Design a three -bedroom functional apartment
«In Paris, in 65 square meters, one expects to find not two, but three rooms. With the kitchen on the side of the patio, we deprived each other of a room,» says the architect. It is true that in the capital, every centimeter counts. So the kitchen has moved to the double area of being to win a room more replacing it with a (small) bedroom. But it was not a matter of sacrificing one of the two spaces of the great living room to transform it into a kitchen. Anthony Benaroche chose to discreetly add a kitchen with hybrid functions, combining a work surface to cook with a bookstore and decorative shelves. «The kitchen adopts the shape of a long sideway of 5 meters, which travels the entire wall,» he says.
Design enthusiasts of the 20s and 30s, and very attached to their armchairs Wassily by Marcel Breuer, the owners inspired the architect to get the conductive thread from their tastes small apartment. So he designed the kitchen in Bauhaus style, inspired by particular in the famous armchair: pure lines (such as its design), chrome cruciform shooters (such as its tubular structure), dark fronts (such as its black leather) … and an countertop adorned with mass -dyed porcelain, which offers a mottled finish not only retro, but also very resistant to the kitchen. «We use this lining for industrial soils, lobby of buildings or work banks of butchers,» explains Anthony Benarroche. The reason extends against the wall as a dashboard, giving the kitchen a decorative touch and making way to other functions: «You can present photos, read, save objects …».
The lovely idea of Anthony Benaroche is to use its clients as a starting point as a starting point. «I like to talk to my clients to know what motivates them,» he says, «it can be a book or a ceramics, which will guide the atmosphere of space and their materials. For example, if an owner is passionate about ceramics, we could suggest him introducing terracotta and brick.» In this kitchen, by Example, Bauhaus inspiration continues on the roof, where a long luminaire of 5 meters accompanies the geometry of the sideboard. Monumental, the room was also designed at low cost. «We did it in situ using a LED strip inserted in an industrial metallic raíl and a cable purchased at the factory. We got a quite luxurious appearance with very cheap materials.» The countertop continues to its multiple functions: «You can regulate the intensity of the light as you are cooking, sleeping or receiving guests.»
2. Restore harmony to let the light in
Once the circulations have been relocated and inspiration was established, it was necessary to return the global coherence to the small apartmentwhere the multiplicity of ornaments drowned the light. «We had to suppress as much as possible of the ornaments to introduce a material coherence between the rooms. We remove the moldings, the parquet soils and the tiles, which were all different, and we scrape the doors,» says Anthony Benarroche. On the ground, a parquet in a typical day of the 60s was placed to give the small apartment A more graphic aspect and provide all rooms with a strong identity.
Similarly, the square pattern of the kitchen was used for the bathroom tiles. The drum and bathtub have been replaced by a large shower at ground level. «We wanted a homogeneous space, with only one color and a single motive. A great mirror expands the perspective and reflects the light that enters through the ox eye.» The oculus, with its playful form thick and its yellow color, is a beautiful nod to the seventies.
The yellow color is the chromatic scheme of the project, «to get away from the beige And the black that we see a lot, «the architect emphasizes: the color is used to reflect the light of the small apartment and establish a link with its history of the sixties. The bedrooms, for example, present yellow touches that contrast with the carpet beigepreferred for its touch, visual and acoustic comfort.
«In general, this project presents sustainable and adaptable spaces,» concludes Athony Benaroche. «If the owners wanted at some point to change the distribution of the rooms, it would be easy to do so thanks to the neutral and practice envelope of this small apartmentwhose functions are not fixed, and can evolve according to needs. «Let's not forget that, before being a very fashionable design piece, the main quality of the armchair Wassily It is its durability. Like this small apartment only.