Plan Study: A 1970s Apartment in Oberkampf, Paris, Reconfigured by Saba Ghorbanalinejad
Paris-based Iranian architect Saba Ghorbanalinejad has a way with difficult plans. Her work centers on transforming misconfigured spaces into functional interiors with the innovative quality of twentieth-century Modernism. Case in point: the complete renovation of a 65-square-meter apartment in a 1970s building in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. The original layout, typical of the era, strictly separated day and night areas. Ghorbanalinejad reconfigured the space as two openings carved around a central core: “a nucleus which organizes circulation and allows light to flow freely from one façade to the other.”
Completed in November of 2025 after a tidy nine-month renovation, the apartment was designed for a young couple—a book publisher and an engineer—and their baby. With a refined eye for architecture and materials, the clients were well matched with Ghorbanalinejad, who developed a considered palette of waxed concrete, stainless steel, and Okoumé wood. Join us for a tour.
Photography by Mary Gaudin for Saba Ghorbanalinejad.
Above: The ninth-floor apartment opens into an expansive kitchen, dining, and living space, with views over the rooftops Oberkampf.
Above: The kitchen island conceived as a sculptural object, designed by Ghorbanalinejad and fabricated by Framaco, with an integrated Bosch cooktop. “The goal was to make the island feel as light and sculptural as possible, rather than a heavy, traditional centerpiece,” Ghorbanalinejad explains. “The integrated lamp accentuates this sense of lightness, enhancing the island’s sculptural quality.”
Above: The lamp is a Joe Colombo Spider Arc Lamp from 1967. The cabinets are Okoumé wood, chosen for its grain; the wall oven is by Sauter.
Above: Paint was stripped from sections of walls and ceiling, leaving the original concrete partially exposed. In the kitchen, it is paired with glass shelving and a custom stainless steel element, fabricated by Framaco.
Above: The wall lamp is a vintage Murano glass sconce.
Above: The faucet is the Dornbracht Tara Wall-Mounted Mixer.
Above: Two openings lead to separate bedrooms—a main bedroom and children’s room. Books play a central role in daily life, and a full-height library wall structures the living area. Two Murano glass fixtures are installed above each entry.
Above: Bedrooms are closed off with custom pocket doors in pale blue.
Above: When the living and bathroom doors are closed on the children’s side, the main bedroom transforms into a suite complete with private dressing area and exclusive access to the bathroom.
Above: Closet hardware, the Godric Furniture Handle in matte nickel, tempers the modern design with an organic shape.
Above: The bathroom is designed as a through-space with dual access. The Devon & Devon Nobel Basin with Axor faucet is positioned as a central element, framed by two recessed lamps.
Above: Simple niches house LED lighting behind textured glass. The walls are finished in waxed concrete.
Above: The reverse side of the shower wall.
Above: A view of the double doors closed off to the children’s side.
Above: Saba Ghorbanalinejad stands in the Oberkampf apartment kitchen.
Above: The starting layout left over from the 1970s.
Above: The architectural plans show the transformation with the through-space bathroom at center.
For more of Saba’s work, see our previous posts:
Categories
Recent Posts
