What’s not tangible creates the feeling of a garden. The light through trees, the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine, the sound of water or birds.
A garden is healing.  It can nurture our souls. We feed and water a garden, we help it grow, and it nurtures us back.
A garden is a living painting; it’s an experience. Being so close to nature transcends any material goals or possessions.
A garden is a sanctuary, it’s where you go to rejuvenate, but first you must relate to it.
– Art Luna Studio (California)

I love this story…
Miss Rose contacted me from Philadelphia in the midst of pandemic to ask if I would be willing to make her a pied à terre in the Marais. An American who had fallen in love with France, she dreamed of being able to offer herself a refuge in Paris. In this particular health context, the urgency to live her dreams took precedence. The flat was bought from a distance and we worked together on the project by skype. It was a great way to escape from everyday life by defying the prohibitions, to meet around a project that offered us a beautiful escapade in the imagination. Miss Rose has that quiet determination that breaks down all obstacles; that confidence and emotional generosity that carries you along. She knew even before she bought the flat that I was going to make her nest and she accompanied us throughout the project with a patience and enthusiasm that made this adventure an exceptional moment…
I think I might cry. Marianne Evennou making 16 m² dreams a reality. (Photos: Grégory Timsit)

The client of an apartment renovation project holds a mini-competition and chooses Riba Architects’ solution, where no square metre goes to waste: there are enough rooms, no corridors – the space itself is breathing. We connect the street and courtyard sides to the living space and create a circular floor plan around the kitchen island to establish a sense of grandeur. We make sure the lines are long and elegant. While removing the roughcast surface, we get an unexpected gift: the rooms formerly connected by doors were actually divided only by two huge brick arches 100 years ago. The seals under the arches are removed, while the arches are cleaned and used as a basis for the overall design. At every step, we seek to enrich the ambience with unexpected details and colours: thermally treated wood is introduced, and a mirror in the bathroom pierces a peephole from an old front door while another mirror is given an imposing massive frame from the wing of the same front door. The retro white square tiles are complemented by the intense dark turquoise colour of the walls and the ceiling above. The wall by the kitchen island is the colour of the morning dawn and so are the velvet curtains in the bedroom. Top ceramic designer Bojana Ristevski from Studio Juha created unforgettable ‘tableware’ carrying the motif of dark blue grain. The ‘two arches’ apartment on Francetova Street is a modern classic. Everyone who visits it says: this is where I would live.
I would live there too! Those arches are absolutely incredible. And the glass walls with curtains in front are a brilliant solution for keeping the space bright and spacious whilst adding privacy when needed. No wonder Riba Architects won an award for this project. (Tableware photos: Maruša Maze. All others: Janez Marolt)

This Mediterranean Revival project by designer Sarah Solis is everything I love in interiors these days. Antique tile, black and white checkerboard floor, rust coloured velvety sofas, wrought iron railings, ethnic textiles, copper tub, outdoor zellige tile fountain…. all the goodness you would find in a Mediterranean villa and more. (Photos: Shade Degges)

In the end, this 25 m² studette turned out to be generous and clever. It has been reinvented with a space that revolves around a bedroom with a dressing room hidden by its glass roof and opening onto a small bathroom. The entrance hall with its small desk, the living room with its two benches and the kitchen with its work surface worthy of a large one, take place around this room. Once the false ceiling was removed, the flat gained in height and the play of perspectives pushed back the walls. In keeping with the principle of marking the different living spaces with different colours, 4 shades are used side by side to give the sensation of wandering through a lively and multiple space.
It is evident designer Marianne Evennou had a lot of fun figuring out what to do with this tiny apartment and I am in awe of how large it feels and how much glamour it now exudes. The beautiful colours are the icing on the cake. (Photos: Grégory Timsit)