An Italian touch in Paris: Inside the heritage apartment renovation by Marcante Testa

Marcante Testa’s singular approach to interiors offers a melange of curious materials, unusual colour combinations and unexpected details every single time.

The spaces the Turin-based practice creates are playful and serious, rigorous and loose, calculated and improvised in equal measure – and this unique Parisian home is no exception.

In its signature style, the studio founded by Andrea Marcante and Adelaide Testa has injected the interior with a sense of playful whimsy and loads of personality while maintaining a level of restraint and sophistication.

The subtle complexity of the aesthetic where old-school references meet refined modernity deliver a series of delightful surprises around every corner.

Colours, patterns and high-brow art and design pieces are held together by clean volumes, monolithic shapes and sharp detailing, bringing disparate design languages seamlessly together into a cohesive and unique interior.

Overlooking the second-largest church in the city after Notre Dame – the magnificent Saint-Sulpice – this heritage apartment renovation became Marcante Testa’s job after an American project manager living in Paris connected the duo with the owner of the property, her friend Pascal Revert.

“Pascal is the director of the London-based gallery 50 Golborne, devoted to contemporary African art and design,” Testa says.

“We created a richly layered home full of diverse influences that is, according to our client, also very comfortable.”

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As the ultimate masters of mixing things up and creating the unexpected, Marcante Testa’s unique aesthetic stands apart in the sometimes homogenised world of interiors.

However, they admit this approach doesn’t always come easy.

“Creating an original mix of abstract references like the esoteric side of Saint-Sulpice church, African art, and the Parisian myth of “rive gauche” during the ’70s was challenging,” Testa says.

Then there was the complex delivery side of things, like working with French/English clients based in London and Kenya, an American project manager, a French local architect and their own team based in Italy.

Although difficult to pinpoint, the finishes and furniture choices hint at the 1970s, particularly the wall textures in clay and lime plaster, a homage to French architect Roger Anger’s Auroville architectural masterpiece in India.

Among the pieces adorning the rooms, sourced from the likes of Tacchini, Ligne Roset, Cassina and Christophe Delcourt, sit Marcante Testa’s own designs – such as the patterned rug in the living room and the large dining room table, both from their Futuraforma collection designed for Spotti Edizioni Milano.

During the design phase, the duo learned a lot about the esoteric, mysterious aspect of Saint-Sulpice church – a major source of inspiration for the project, and the ceiling rose they custom-designed in the living room in particular.

“But for the client, this element remains nothing more than a Batman logo,” say the duo, jokingly.

Seriously, how could you not love these guys?