Appartement Exelmans

The apartment works on two lighting regimes. The entrance stays pale, white plaster and wide-plank oak; the salon tips into blackened oak, panelled floor to ceiling, and the room closes in on itself.

The threshold is treated as a filter. A black steel frame carries reeded glass that lets brightness through and holds back the silhouettes; under the bench, a recessed line washes the floor and lifts the joinery off the wall. The brass pendulum clock supplies the only bright point.

In the salon, three objects are enough. A mineral canvas, grey and grainy, split by a single vertical line, holds the wall; a chromed dome drops over the seating and returns the image of the room; the flecked wool sofa takes velvet cushions in ochre, blue and taupe.

The floor changes with use. Coarse terrazzo carries the circulation, a blue wool rug edges the seating area, and wide oak takes over beyond. The room reads by artificial light as much as by daylight.