Francesco Balzano’s Art-Filled Paris Apartment Name Drops Villa Medici and Versailles

The designer brought a palatial air into his small home with green onyx finishes, silk and satin decor, and at least one fresco.

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Project Details:

Location: Paris, France

Designer: After Bach Studio / @afterbachstudio

Footprint: 775 square feet

Builder: Ateliers Saint Jacques

Photographer: Vincent Leroux / @v.leroux

From the Designer: “The interior design studio After Bach, founded by French designer Francesco Balzano in 2020, has completely redesigned this Haussmann apartment nestled in the heart of the Village d’Auteuil in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. He redesigned it for himself as a studio and home.

“The project was inspired by a return to nature and the desire to place art at the heart of a creative life. It was thought as a sophisticated Parisian garden, soft and precious, a setting where shades of green and ivory dialogue with works of art and furniture by the designer. The plan has a gallery-like entrance with a living/dining room and a bedroom on the west side and a private office and a kitchen on the east side. The wet rooms are treated like precious furniture, crafted in the spirit of Versailles.

“Balzano chose a palette of colors and materials that echo plants, a subtle tribute to the Italian architect Piero Portallupi. Green fabric, satin ivory, ultra matte paint, and onyx white and green are a leitmotiv of this particular project. The flooring is composed of sisal and abaca carpet, parquet in ash, and light green onyx.

“The entrance, entirely upholstered in cotton satin fabric and silk braids, houses a subtle play of doors under draperies and pivots decorated with Danish ceramic buttons. Plaster cornices are in the historical character of the apartment. Balzano set up his office in the backyard, where he likes to surround himself with samples, works of art, and furniture. The office is a piece of his collection of Murano II furniture, custom-made for this occasion and entirely sheathed in leather. The lamps of his Luce collection, exclusively represented by his Parisian gallery Kolkhoze, punctuate the apartment on the ceiling of each room.

“Entirely dressed in pale green onyx, the bathroom is designed to feel minimalist and prestigious. It features a washbasin and a large walk-in shower decorated with a fresco painted with marble powder by the painter-decorator Nicolas Resse, which is a replica of the painted decorations found on the ceilings of one of the pavilions of the Villa Medici.

“Photos, sculptures, paintings and engravings interact with the architecture to create an artful living space for the owner and his partner.”