Joseph Dirand’s family apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris

The architect Joseph Dirand redesigned a Passy apartment to live there with his family, using noble materials and simplifying the lines… he has remained faithful to his style, with a sober and gentle radicalism.

Adrien Dirand

Architect Joseph Dirand and his wife Anne-Sophie in front of a charcoal drawing by Thomas Houseago.sofa (Living Divani).

The architect Joseph Dirand has just moved into a beautiful apartment in the 16th arrondissement, which he sees as a “ version 2.0 of his précédent ” that has become too small with another child’s project.It’s also an opportunity for the architect to change his fundamental style, even though the two places are very similar. The main difference is the light, the calm and the view. And, he smiles, “ la the Eiffel Tower and the sky that changes according to the time of day is magique ! »

AD Tell us about the layout of this new apartment…

JD The arches that connect the hallway and the living room bring something different. I also used them for the alcoves, on either side of the fireplace. I could have opened the space differently, but I wanted curves and curves. Generally speaking, I wanted things that were softer, more sensual, more comfortable. It must be âge !

Adrien Dirand

The entrance, whose Massangis stone arches open onto the living room, is in Versailles parquet flooring like the whole apartment, with mirrored doors, a heater by Gianni Moscatelli for Formanova and a bench by Folke Bensow (1925).

AD What has changed in your approach to decorating over the last few years années ?

JD When you’re young, you’re more radical, but with time, things get softer. I’m more sensitive to the tactile side, to the ergonomics of objects. The angles get rounder, like on the kitchen countertop, which I would have treated differently before. What interests me today is to create a quality of life: how to play with light, transparencies, views. And also to understand how the person who lives there will interact with the place, and then it’s up to me to dress him or her and give him or her the right references. But what I like the most in my decoration is the decorative metal objects that I bought second-hand on a website

AD And here, what was références ?

JD The references are always a function of the place.here, they’re classic, Parisian but not Haussmannian – it’s a style that I find a little “ fake ”.There’s also a nod to the 1930s with the arches.In terms of style, what’s interesting in the 21st century – unlike the xxe which was built on a continuation of “ révolutions ”. – is that we’ve fed off this whole past and we can draw on it to create a new language by combining different elements.