TOUR A HAUSSMANNIAN APARTMENT IN PARIS BY RODOLPHE PARENTE

Rodolphe Parente is proof that effortless elegance comes naturally to the French. Influenced by the brilliance of interior designers such as Pierre Chareau, Gio Ponti, and Carlo Scara, Parente was inspired to study interior and product design. A graduate of Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts of Dijon and the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Strasbourg, the visionary decided to further pursue his initial training in product design at the École Cantonale d'Art of Lausanne. Having worked on several luxury projects with Ms. Andrée Putman, Parente is greatly inspired by everyday life - blending a seamless symphony of textures and sensibilities that surround him into a stream of inventive interior design projects.

A palette of warm neutrals was used as part of the apartment’s renovation to create a sense of immersion, and to enhance the classical heritage feel of the apartment by keeping an enveloping atmosphere.

All photographs courtesy Giulio Ghirardi

It’s that “je nai sais quoi” – a hard to define characteristic that makes something desirable. Chic, with an element of the unexpected, and filled with effortless details, Parisian homes possess undeniable charm.

As part of a complete renovation and interior design of a Haussmannian-style apartment in Paris, Rodolphe Parente sought to celebrate its extensive period details, while still incorporating a radical, artsy touch to the space. Unexpected details like bare-bodied photographs and stone busts lay bare the glory of the human body throughout the apartment.

"The main idea was to preserve and at some points restore the classic Haussmannian codes of a Parisian apartment," Parente says. "It was important for me to keep the Parisian vibration as well as the radical tone of my client's art taste."

“I wanted to give the interior a contemporary pulse with colours, furniture, and artworks”.

The homeowner’s radical taste in art served as the natural point of departure, but infusing that eccentric quality into the home’s original shell did prove a bit of a challenge.

“Each new project involves a search for the right tone, and calls for sensitive reflection. It was important for me to keep the Parisian vibe as well as the client’s bold aesthetic in mind. Marrying the two was hard but so worth it – I always strive to incarnate spaces that speak their own distinctive design language”, Rodolphe reflects.

Unexpected bursts of colour. In the foyer, a painting of a bikini-clad woman by Guy Yanai takes centre stage, while a semi-nude photo of Lovers by Camille Vivier graces the dining area, with an abstract fresco adorning the wall behind the dining table.

The living room is equally zany – with a woman’s bust and an avian sculpture threatening to come alive and take flight. In the office, gleaming hand-like sculptures sit on the desk, as if grasping for something.

The kitchen is a deconstructed block sitting in the Haussmanian environment," Parente said. "It is connected to the historical elements through its composition."

True to Parente’s signature style - the designer’s oeuvre of creating voluminous and spell-binding spaces, this apartment flows like sunlight. Reorienting the layout to create new passages of circulation, exposing long sealed-off doorways and connecting the dining room with the kitchen ensured that the apartment had a cohesive feel that resonated with the homeowners.

Against a cohesive backdrop, surprisingly colourful elements leap out, including the unexpected art, and vivid floor rugs standing out against caramel coloured walls in the master bedroom. A band of gold leaf highlights the circular ceiling in the foyer, where sections of mouldings were painstakingly restored.