Télégraphe: A 1970s Paris Apartment Brought Back to Life
BUREAU (IN)VISIBLE, Paula Bizais and Lawan-kila Toé dismantle a locked-away 1970s floor plan to expose the raw beauty of its skeleton.
François Baudry
A Paris apartment left essentially untouched since 1976 has been quietly reworked by BUREAU (IN)VISIBLE with architects Paula Bizais and Lawan-kila Toé. The designers removed the rigid 1970s divisions and let the building’s own structure do more of the talking.
The load-bearing concrete wall that once divided living and sleeping areas was stripped back to its raw surface, complete with original construction marks. Left untreated, it now acts as a clear but open threshold between the public and private zones, with no door required. The enclosed kitchen was opened and extended toward the living room and the continuous balcony beyond, so the social spaces feel continuous with the outdoors. What had been a secondary living room became a compact study, screened by a full-height timber-framed glass partition that keeps noise down while still letting light and views pass through.
Carpet was replaced throughout with pale timber boards that run unbroken from room to room. Warm, traditionally varnished wood appears in the kitchen cabinets, the partition frames, and a built-in platform headboard, offsetting the cool concrete. Walls are finished in clay plaster that shifts subtly with the daylight. In the bathroom, long beige ceramic tiles cover the surfaces. A dark natural-stone basin provides the single strong contrast.
The result is an apartment that feels both more open and more honest about its origins, with raw structure and soft, tactile finishes held in careful balance.
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