Floating in a luxuriously classic Celine bathtub while viewing the Eiffel Tower is not an experience many people get to have at home, even in the opulent 16th arrondissement of Paris. However, at Apartment Henri-Martin, located along Avenue Henri-Martin, this is exactly what the owners can do now, after an extensive reconfiguration and renovation of their opulent home.
Typically to many of Paris’s formerly affluent homes, the sizeable apartment had changed hands and configurations multiple times and, just like so many previously opulent residences, had been divided into smaller rooms.
Emphasizing and taking her cues from the original parquet floors, tall windows and archways of the apartment, Paris-based designer Marika Dru of Atelier MKD proceeded to reveal the essential beauty of the residence while inserting a highly considered set of modern touches. The goal of the owners and their designer was to bring the gorgeous place to life while creating a livable home.
Dru refrained from over-doing the modernization and instead created a balanced whole with elegant modernist touches. These include several pieces of furniture from Cassina’s Capitol Complex series.
It is a series of Jeanneret-designed reproductions that harken back to the 1953-established city of Chandigarh in India. With its master plan and several buildings designed by Le Corbusier, it is one of the earliest planned cities in India. The city’s Capitol Complex was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
Le Corbusier’s cousin, Pierre Jeanneret designed several practical chairs for the Capitol Complex with many at the time being manufactured in India and produced by the thousands.
In the Paris apartment, eight of Cassina’s 051 Capitol Complex office chairs – one of the best-known pieces of the Capitol Complex series – were used to surround the glossy dining table in a daylight-bathed dining area of the living room.
In the seating area, Pierre Augustin Rose’s Duo Multilaque coffee table is flanked by two of Cassina 053 Capitol Complex armchairs.
With its numerous museums, prestigious schools and parks, the 16th arrondissement is considered one of the French high society’s favourite places of residence. Significant museums in the area include Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris Museum of Modern Art and Palais de Tokyo. Tuija Seipell
