Tag Archives: paris

20/10

Heliocosm, Paris

Heliocosm, a new natural cosmetics brand, opened shop in Paris and commissioned FREAKS freearchitects to design the interior.

The space is unusually long (nearly 20m) and narrow, which the designers addressed by separating it into a front and back room that are linked by a wooden tunnel with an integrated display.

The entire interior is painted a “cool mint” blue-green, including the floors and ceilings, enfolding customers in a refreshing space. The front room serves as a workshop and reception, and the backroom as a lounge. The back wall of the lounge is covered in a large scale print of a greenish blue mountain and lake, creating an impressive ending perspective for the connecting tunnel.

All freestanding furnishings were salvaged from second hand shops, adding comfortable, homey elements to the very edgy space.

(Images via Dezeen)

03/10

Derrier, Paris

Mourad Mazouz’s restaurant Derrier is described as a ‘home away from home’ – and I can see why: the restaurant, styled as a family apartment, gives the impression of having stumbled into an eccentric friend’s well-lived in home. The restaurant follows the idea of ‘home’ and is structured like one, diners can sit in the lounge, dining room, bedroom or boudoir. The main room is fit out with a kitchen table, comfy sofas and oddly, a ping pong table for amusement between courses.

The restaurant takes its name from its location, it is hidden in a courtyard at the back of 404 and Andy Wahloo, Mazouz’s other Paris restaurants. The off -hand chic interior is just as tongue in the cheek as the name of the restaurant. The eclectic interior mixes styles that gives the feeling of nonchalance.  Throughout the restaurant shelves filled with books and other knick-knacks line the walls, along with an assortment of photos, paintings, posters and the odd empty frame. The food is French, simple and wholesome, made with the finest quality products.

In the bedroom diners are perched on mattresses, complete with alarm clocks at bedside.

And somewhere, behind one of the many mirrors in Derrier, is a secret smoking room.

(Images via derrier-resto.com)

06/07

Hotel Maison Martin Margiela

Yesterday the Paris hotel La Maison Champs Elysées was re-opened, after being re-decorated by Maison Martin Margiela. Margiela has imagined 17 rooms and suites as well as the reception, restaurant, bar and cigar room, in what is a powerful statement bot, conceptually and geographically (the hotel is at the centre of a district featuring the world’s most prestigious couture houses).

Cerebrally satisfying since its foundation in 1988, it’s clear why Maison Martin Margiela were approached – the house has such a strong handwriting you could theorise it, bind it, and sit it on a bookshelf as a sexy, very contemporary branch of philosophy. White paint, deconstruction, trompe l’oeil, reappropriation, the artisanal and, last but not least, pure, dry wit are key characteristics. Another particularly romantic convention is seen when MMM fêtes – think of the red wine served in cheap, white disposable cups that become hedonistically stained.

La Maison Champs Elysées consists of two buildings, one of which dates from the Second Empire under Napoleon III. It was in 1864 that the Duchess of Rivoli, Princess d’Essling, Grand Mistress of the Empress Eugénie’s Household, had this private mansion built, penned by French architect Jules Pellechet. The property was designed in the (now iconic) Haussmann style and finished in 1866.

Decorated within the brand’s artistic lineage, expect a huge diamond prism alluding to infinite space (reception), white linen and cotton-covered sofas (the Essling bar), bottle lamps, wool runners printed with English-style parquet and suites with unfinished mouldings.

Via AnOther

17/03

Café Germain in Paris by India Mahdavi

Iranian architect India Mahdavi designed the new restaurant Café Germain in Paris – a great 70s old school bistro/diner style. It was opened by French Entrepreneur Thierry Costes. The two story restaurant/lounge is split in two by the massive yellow sculpture entitled Sophie, created by the renowned French artist Xavier Veilhan, who is currently showcasing in the Chateau des Versailles in France.

Article via TrendLand

08/08

New Camper Store in Paris by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

A special store project, designed by the Bouroullec Brothers, is located beside Paris’ imposing Centre Pompidou, a Mecca that everyone with an interest in design culture must visit at least once in their lifetime. Thus, Ronan and Erwan make their debut as Camper collaborators in the very city where they live and work.

“For us, Camper is a very interesting brand, in the sense that it has proven to have a very open mindset. Each store has its own atmosphere. The shoes also cover a very wide range of types and styles. Consequently, our collaboration has has been a unique chance for us to try to contribute a clear-cut idea of what a store in Paris should be, welcoming and straightforward. With the use of different shades of red, textile interventions and a furniture collection designed for private home use, we tried to create a space that was both evident and surprising, a space able to produce special sensations: the red adds warmth, the cloths muffle sounds and give depth and the household furniture confers an air of simplicity. The textile interventions consist of backstitched blankets that partially cover the walls and certain furniture and décor elements. They are irregular and their relatively bright colours contrast with the red tone that pervades the entire store.”

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