Two architects take us inside their home in the city of Lille.
Color is not the priority for architects and designers Floriane and Baptiste Dosne. She is drawn to fabric, pattern, texture. He, shape and silhouette. The result of which is a home whose eccentricity lies in a hammered copper surface or an oblong framed mirror rather than a rainbow color palette. But the lack of color doesn't entail a lack of intrigue. Baptiste waxes poetic about the shadows different hours of light cast upon a seemingly blanched wall. “Depending on the time of the day, it can be super white, super bright, warm, or almost gray.”
The founders of the interior and retail design studio NOCOD fled Paris in 2021 in search of a more relaxed creative refuge—without nixing every aspect of city life—to put down roots. They found a spot in Lille, a short commute outside of Paris where much of their professional life is still based. “I think we had some luck finding this place,” Floriane recounts. “We fell in love [with it] immediately.” The home was formerly a workshop for cinema projectors. The creative duo was actually partial to its less glamorous aspects—the slatted ceiling, the repurposed flooring, and the stainless steel kitchen. Those little details they've left unchanged become, to Floriane, “a testimony, a story of what was before us," she says. “I think it's important to have these kinds of things in a home.”
The Dosnes create ephemeral installations for brands like Louis Vuitton, Swarovski, and Cartier, and they’re currently known for their work on AMIRI stores. Each of these projects has a distinct timeline, a point at which they are finished. Their home, they assure me, is the complete opposite. “We arrived a year ago, so it's like phase one,” says Baptiste. “In one year the project will be completely different.” They add items one by one. “It wasn't like, ‘Oh. We need six chairs for this table.’ It was like, "Oh. I love this chair. Let's take it,’” Floriane explains. “But then you can have 20 chairs,” she laughs.
Chairs are not the only thing the creative duo collects. An array of objects sparingly litter their surfaces, each revealing a penchant for thoughtful design. You’ll find a vintage Braun radio above the fridge (Baptiste has a great reverence for Dieter Rams) and an Eames chair perched against the wall. Their own creations find a home in the mix, as well. They possess an affinity for auctions (and auction catalogs, which, Baptiste says, are a great resource for discovery) and an unsurprising love of ‘50s Californian homes.
All that said, their Lille home is surprisingly practical. Their office space is sparse, efficient. They did not touch the professional grade stainless steel kitchen, original to the home—a choice they do not regret. “Before [living here], we had a beautiful marble kitchen. And trust me, stainless steel is way better for [real] life,” Baptiste adds. "It's really a family house," Floriane continues, alluding to the toys left out by their two- and seven-year-old. When I ask how the home makes them feel at its currrent state, Baptiste says, “peaceful. But only for a few seconds, because [soon] after you have one kid on your leg.” Continue to discover the story behind their homes thoughtful curation.
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