Parisian apartment

Paris-based, Peruvian architect Diego Delgado-Ellas newly refurbished Parisian apartment is a fusion of 19th century decorative flourishes and an urban aesthetic of vintage elegance and minimalist functionality.

The apartment’s combination of distinctively high ceilings and tall street-facing windows inundate the rooms with daylight which the architect has amplified by the whiteness of walls and ceilings.

But rather than white-washing all the surfaces, several wall sections have been left in their weathered, discoloured condition as an insignia of the building’s long history. Similarly, antique mirror frames are partly covered by patina and the spotted bathroom mirror sports silver deterioration, altogether evincing a nostalgia for a bygone area which is made all the more vivid by the preservation of the heritage decorative elements: the ornate ceiling cornices and medallions, the gilded wainscoting, the marble and faience mantelpieces, one of the latter dating back to the 18th century, and the chevron-patterned parquet flooring.