When Joris Poggioli got the keys to an apartment inside a Napoleonic-era building in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, he immediately fell for its historic charm and potential. However, the architect and designer’s own aesthetic is highly contemporary — his trademarks include cylindrical shapes, rounded edges, and high-sheen materials — so balancing this with the existing classical details took a lot of thought and consideration. Poggioli decided that the exquisitely crafted historical features should be the main character, while his interventions and additions — including many of his own furniture designs — play a supporting role in this new chapter for the space.

“When I first encountered this apartment, hidden beneath layers of modifications, I felt an immediate connection to its past — a past that was begging to be uncovered and allowed to speak once again,” says Poggioli, whose career we’ve been following closely since 2018 (and whose work we sell via the SU Collection!) First, he restored and preserved existing elements like the moldings, wooden doors, parquet flooring, and fireplaces to help tell the story of the space. The nearly 14-foot ceilings, and windows that stretch almost the full height, demanded that Poggioli think on a grand scale. He installed a mezzanine over the kitchen area with a curved underside to evoke a ship’s prow, and an oversized concave headboard behind the bed, both intentionally placed to avoid interrupting the intricate original moldings.

Much of the furniture is black, adding weight to the airy interiors that are predominantly painted in a pale neutral hue. The stainless-steel kitchen — continuing one of this year’s big design trends — also creates a dramatic contrast, while the simple spherical lamps installed on walls and ceilings have a similar yet more subtle effect. Among Poggioli’s own designs that inhabit the apartment are the marble Thali console, formed of lozenge-shaped shelves that are stacked yet separated on drum-shaped supports, which resides in the bedroom. Meanwhile, his Ettore bookshelf with square niches cut into a solid column of wood, and the Rick chair with its bowl-like seat and arched base can be found in the living area. Several pieces from his 2022 Totem collection — the dining table, coffee table, occasional chairs, and more — are also peppered throughout the space.

All of these clean-lined, minimalist pieces “serve as a frame that highlights the beauty of the past without competing with it,” says Poggioli. “There’s an intentional restraint in my approach, where modernity acts as a silent partner, allowing the historical architecture to retain its voice while engaging in a subtle, yet profound, dialogue with the present.” His careful interventions have brought the apartment up to contemporary living standards without compromising its soul.