Unexpected Combinations Of Art And Furniture

This apartment embodies the precision of Rodolphe Parente’s architectural approach and his unexpected combinations of art and furniture

French interior designer Rodolphe Parente has very clear ideas of what constitutes elegance. “It’s a skilful mix of grace, attitude and irreverence, which is not linked to the notion of good taste,” he asserts. In his own work, he always likes to shake things up a little. “I try to incorporate something a little different, an unusual element that provokes dialogue,” he continues.

This apartment, which acts as a pied-à-terre for a French couple based in Singapore, is a perfect case in point. It is located in a building dating from 1910 in what is known as the Triangle d’Or, a highly sought-after part of Paris’s 8th arrondissement, bordered by the three stylish avenues: Montaigne, George V and the Champs-Elysées. The space previously housed the offices of a law firm, who had fitted it out with a series of large rooms and brightred walls.

NEW BEGINNING

Parente completely reworked the layout, placing a luxurious master suite at its heart and a family room and two other bedrooms at the rear, accessed via a circular antechamber. “We realised we needed a breathing space and opted for a round form to make it more dynamic and enveloping,” he states.

Although he removed a number of existing fireplaces, he retained other architectural details, such as the cornice mouldings and delicately sculpted window and door frames. He also commissioned the Paris-based decorative artist Florence Girette to paint a cloudy sky on the vertiginous double-height ceiling in the sitting room, and sanded down the wainscoting to give it a lighter look; it had previously been a stodgy dark-wood colour.