Kitsch Chic: Paris Apartment by Studio Akademos.

After launching on to the Parisian design scene with their debut furniture collection earlier this year, Studio Akademos backs it up with their first interior project. A renovation of a 1936 late-Art Deco apartment on Rue De Levis in the 17th arrondissement, the space stays true to the duo’s distinct style via the use of mirrors, stainless steel and lacquer surfaces.

After meeting at Studio Casiraghi in 2019, Aurélien Raymond and Costanza Rossi bonded over a shared vision which they’ve been bringing it to life ever since. Their distinct style is defined by the connection between three distinct universes—Café Society’s heyday, its lavish parties and receptions, the glamour and avant-garde of the 1970s and our own times and a focus on perpetual research for practicality in use.

Dramatic use of glossy black lacquer was applied to the archways and used for floor to ceiling mirrored closets in the hallway. Not just for dramatic flair, “this architectural gesture also allows to visually mark the transition between areas devoted to circulation and living spaces,” Raymond and Rossi explain.

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In the living area, floor to ceiling mirrors flank a centrepiece fireplace, dressed in an ivory and black lacquer paint. The studio designed two niches on either side with shelving for books and enamelled urns, recreating a 70’s look and feel. References to modern classicist designers such as Francois Catroux, Billy Baldwin and Tony Duquette are abundant. Both antiques and the studio’s own bespoke designs fit seamlessly within the interior.

“Our work is always based on a concrete study of the eras we are basing our aesthetic on,” Raymond and Rossi elaborate. “Nothing is left to chance and we constantly make a point of justifying the existence of every single element constituting our interiors as well as our furniture pieces.”

In the bathroom, luxury cruise ships and voyages of the 1920s were the main source of inspiration. Blue ceramic mosaic tiles were used in the bathroom floors and shower walls, matched with traditional Art Deco tapware and nostalgia inducing pedestal sinks. A pair of French empire sconces and a 17th century Chinese wall panel was added in a final touch the designers describe as ‘kitsch chic’.

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[Images courtesy of Studio Akademos. Photography by Francois Coquerel.]