- Project: Apartment with a Parisian Mood for Collectors
- Architect: AABA Architects
- Location: Russia, Moscow
- Year: 2025
- Photography: AABA Architects
A Parisian Spirit, Curated for Life
Designed for a couple of passionate collectors, this apartment by AABA Architects translates the ease and elegance of a Parisian home into a Moscow context. The brief: create rooms that feel cultured rather than staged, where art and design read as a single composition. The result is a luminous, quietly luxurious interior—calm in tone, rich in detail, and meticulously tuned for display, conversation, and everyday living.
Concept: Salon Culture Reimagined
The designers took the Parisian salon as a starting point—gracious proportions, layered textures, and a soft interplay of old and new—then distilled it into a contemporary language. Instead of literal pastiche, the team worked with proportion, rhythm, and light:
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Tall wall planes and deep reveals create a subtly “Hausmannian” cadence.
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Chevron‐inspired parquet patterns guide movement without visual noise.
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A restrained palette (chalk, oyster, pale greige) lets artwork and objects take the lead.
The apartment reads as a sequence of intimate galleries: each room frames a conversation between art, furniture, and light.
Planning & Flow
A simple, highly legible layout keeps the home effortless to live in and effortless to curate:
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Enfilade axis linking entry, living, and dining establishes clear sightlines for statement pieces.
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Discrete thresholds (arched portals, pocket doors) allow the home to modulate between open entertaining and private retreat.
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Zoned storage—concealed millwork along circulation—keeps surfaces pristine while placing handling gloves, catalogs, and hanging systems exactly where they’re needed.
This clarity makes rotating the collection intuitive: nothing feels fixed, yet everything has a place.
Material Palette: Soft Neoclassicism
The material strategy balances tactile warmth with museum-grade neutrality:
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Floors: oak in chevron and broad boards—toned to a dry, mid-light finish that flatters art without glare.
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Walls: mineral paints and fine plasterwork; delicately profiled cornices create a soft halo where wall meets ceiling.
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Metals & stones: brushed brass in thin lines; honed stone for hearth and console tops—quiet shine, no high gloss.
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Textiles: linen sheers for daylight diffusion; wool/silk blends underfoot to temper acoustics in open areas.
The overall impression is serene and timeless—Parisian in attitude, contemporary in execution.
Light as a Curatorial Tool
Lighting was conceived in layers to honor both the collection and daily life:
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Ambient: concealed coves and small-aperture downlights establish an even base level without hot spots.
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Accent: adjustable art lights at optimal beam angles (~30°) ensure color fidelity and minimize spill onto frames.
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Statement pieces: a few sculptural pendants and sconces introduce silhouette and sparkle, echoing Parisian salon glamour without stealing focus.
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Daylight control: dual drapery (sheer + blackout) shields sensitive works and lets the mood dial from gallery-bright to evening-intimate.
Result: the home functions as a salon by day and a private gallery by night.
The Living Suite
The main salon pairs low, modular seating with two curatorial devices:
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Picture wall with flexible hanging rail hidden behind a painted frieze line—works can shift seasonally without patching walls.
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Collector’s console with shallow drawers for works on paper, catalogs, and certificates; the top acts as a staging plinth for new acquisitions.
A limestone hearth anchors conversations; a quiet, asymmetrical rug composition ties seating to architecture rather than merely to furniture.
Dining & Conversation
In the dining zone, a slender oval table sits beneath a restrained chandelier. The oval plan softens axial alignment and encourages long meals and discourse. A niche framed in plaster becomes a “temporary exhibition” bay—paint, photography, or a single sculptural piece reads with ceremonial clarity.
Kitchen as Atelier
The kitchen is resolved as a working atelier: paneled fronts flush to the wall line, integrated pulls, and a honed stone island whose proportions echo a museum worktable. Under-cabinet task lighting and a cool-CRI strip along the backsplash make color sorting and cataloging effortless during art rotations or floral styling for gatherings.
Private Wing
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Primary suite: padded headboard wall in a matte textile, integrated reading lights, and concealed perimeter storage; the effect is cocooning and quiet.
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Library / study: shallow shelves for monographs sized to keep spines flush; a secondary rail for small framed drawings; acoustic softening via drapery and rug.
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Guest room: neutral and restful, with a compact wall system that flips between wardrobe and shallow hanging display for prints.
Bathrooms continue the language—honed stone, reeded glass, and gently rounded profiles—calm, tactile, and durable.
Bespoke Joinery & Display Logic
AABA Architects’ joinery is the project’s silent protagonist:
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Cabinet-walls double as partitions, consolidating storage and reducing visual clutter.
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Hidden micro-power behind key picture positions enables discrete art lighting or sensor-based protection without exposed cabling.
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Soft-close vitrines with museum felt and UV-considerate glazing provide safe rotation for small objects.
Everything serves the collection without advertising itself.
Acoustics, Comfort, and Care
To preserve salon intimacy, the team layered acoustic textiles, underlay beneath parquet, and low-velocity air distribution. Finishes favor cleanability and maintenance: mineral paints that spot-repair, medium-tone floors that age gracefully, stones chosen for honed—not polished—resilience.
Sustainability, Quietly
Rather than “green tech theater,” the project privileges passive means:
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Daylight first, then task; dim-to-warm LEDs everywhere.
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Durable, repairable materials over short-life synthetics.
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Millwork designed in modular carcasses—to move with the collectors if the gallery grows.
It’s sustainability as longevity and serviceability.
Why It Works
The apartment succeeds because it feels lived-in and learned, not themed. It channels Paris through proportion, restraint, and savoir-faire, allowing the couple’s collection—and daily rituals—to set the mood. In an age of over-styled “content interiors,” AABA Architects delivers something rarer: cultured quiet.
