Storytelling and imagination inspire a “poetic and playful journey” through this redesigned Parisian Art Nouveau apartment.
Alice’s ‘Wonderland’ might have been down a dark rabbit hole, but French architect Clément Lesnoff-Rocard’s is a luminous family apartment in Paris’s historical 5th arrondissement. The apartment, located inside a 1910 Art Nouveau building, has been redesigned with a scenographic arrangement of structural and ornamental discoveries. “This project merges historical periods and architectural elements with ornamental elements, real spaces with imaginary spaces, in an almost surrealistic way. With the client’s trust, I was free to create a poetic and playful journey,” Lesnoff-Rocard.
The transformation of this Left Bank apartment included multifunctional spaces facilitating work, play, and relaxation from day to night. The living room with white resin parquet floors reflects the openness of a contemporary agora, while the hybrid ‘Cesar’ salon—with its Carrara marble bathtub, benchtops, and custom-made white leather banquette seating—is a palatial space for working, socialising, and pampering. With its open floor plan and heritage windows that generously disperse sunlight, the apartment’s spaces transition from one to another as fluidly as their playful, thematic narratives.
An interplay of natural light and reflections characterise the kitchen, which is fitted with stainless steel fixtures and a polished mirror fridge by Amibis, a Lacanche cooktop, and a pendant lamp by Contain Studio.
Contrasting materials and textures see the classical and the contemporary collide; Rosso Levanto marble, a cylindrical column gilded with aluminium leaf, and Pierre Fray curtains add softness to the space.
True to his signature approach, the architect used natural light and proportions as his “raw material”. Its refined background is a ‘white page’ layered with contrasting material elements including architectural concrete, mirrored surfaces, Carrara and Rosso Levanto marble, Jaques Frey curtains for softness, and a black diamond-tiled feature wall resembling playing cards from Alice in Wonderland. These details also enhance the residence’s cinematic character, which has the illusion of spanning scenes or centuries. Materials themselves are protagonists in the architect’s approach to storytelling, and yet, despite their diverse aesthetic qualities, they integrate harmoniously into the project’s overall stylistic scheme.
Bespoke furniture designed by Lesnoff-Rocard is featured throughout the apartment, including this arrangement of leather-covered Bistro tables and half-moon shelves. These pieces are complemented by Cobra chairs from Giotto Stoppino and an Apparatus Trapeze Mobile chandelier.
“It’s like a movie; you have a collection of scenes, sceneries, and interior landscapes, but in the end, you want to feel a cohesive story through the eye of one director,” the architect shares.
The collision of classical and contemporary is also observed in the residence’s decor. Bespoke furniture pieces such as Lesnoff-Rocard’s own leather-covered Bistro dining table and mirrored Opaline chandelier are displayed alongside a sculptural Atelier Ellery coffee table and 1960s Pierre Paulin Osaka sofa in the living room. These objects are also in dialogue with a series of works by artists including Marc Leschelier and Ira Bo. “I would call it serious playfulness, or maybe deep lightness,” the architect says about his approach to the decor and ornamentation.
Lesnoff-Rocard’s Moon Shell sofa in leather and wood surrounded by mirrors is one in a series of bespoke furniture pieces by the architect enhancing the apartment’s thematic narratives.
“Once you allow yourself to play with time and space, you also play with all of your inner inspirations; from cinema to art, from moments of your personal life to universal references from literature,” Lesnoff-Rocard says. “I also love the idea that we are all still kids somehow, and visual references from childhood are sometimes the most powerful.”
Lesnoff-Rocard’s reinterpretation of this heritage apartment has made way for a ‘Wonderland’ where past and present mingle, with universal narratives and aesthetic discoveries that are refined yet highly accessible. Perhaps more importantly, the project embodies the power of the imagination in transforming the residential experience.
The open living room is defined by its white resin parquet floor and artful mix of design pieces, including a coffee table and floor lamp by Atelier Ellery, a mirrored Opaline chandelier by Clément Lesnoff-Rocard, and a 1960s Pierre Paulin Osaka sofa.
A museum-like display of design and art objects includes a ‘concrete drape’ sculpture by Marc Leschelier, and the Petra stool by Sophie Dries.
This hybrid salon functions as a reception room, bathroom, and office, complete with a Carrara marble bathtub, matching benchtops, and bespoke leather banquette seating.
Lesnoff-Rocard’s imaginative thematics are echoed in bedroom details including a bespoke leather-covered headboard with geometric details, and a mother-of-pearl chandelier by Verner Panton.
The post Home Tour | Wonderland by Clément Lesnoff-Rocard appeared first on est living | exceptional living.
