In the heart of the 8th arrondissement, Morning Penthièvre has taken up residence in a private mansion at number 6 of the eponymous street. Ideally located - between Miromesnil station and the Hôtel Matignon - this space, laid out over 4 floors, can accommodate 230 occupants, who enjoy a fully landscaped interior courtyard.
The building is home to a very particular aesthetic. Poised on the boundary between the whimsical world of Memphis and Mediterranean harmonies, Morning Penthièvre offers an elegant and accommodating setting to work in.
Memphis design and Mediterranean influences,
The bustle of 80s Italy meets the gentleness of the Cyclades
Laura Martin - interior architect at Morning - took charge of the interior design of the Morning Penthièvre space. For this new playground, she chose to explore 2 distinctive worlds: Memphis design and Mediterranean influences. Before we even get to Laura’s particular choices and the combinations she brought together, here’s a quick overview of these contrasting aesthetics.
Memphis design: eccentric volumes and vivid colours
It was at the dawn of the 1980s that the Memphis group came into being in the city of Milan. Its name is taken from the Bob Dylan track Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again. The Memphis movement was born on the initiative of subversive designers, eager to shake up the codes of traditional Italian design. At the top of the list is a name well known to the designers of the day: the Italian architect Ettore Sottsass. Utterly at odds with the “good taste” of the era, the northern Italian movement grew in popularity and exhibited its first range of 31 furniture pieces at the Galerie Arc'74, at the Milan International Furniture Fair.
The Memphis movement is disruptive, striking, liberating and a complete break with the previous decade. Historically the capital of fashion, luxury and design, Milan saw the birth of a new current whose success spread to more and more art galleries and exhibitions of every kind.
Memphis design flaunts very vivid pop colours and patterns inspired by kitsch. At the polar opposite of the shapes and patterns the eye is used to, this world deliberately creates a sense of disorder and chaos. Its primary aim is to arrest attention, to trigger a strong emotion in whoever experiences it visually.
The Mediterranean influence, from the inside out
Mediterranean design - also known as “Cycladic architecture” - is the fruit of 5 thousand years of Greek tradition, in which the choice of volumes, colours and materials responds to a particularly sunny climate.
Houses are built as a continuation from the inside out, like an invitation to enjoy the ambient brightness and light. The white walls reflect the sun’s rays and help keep the building cool.
The Mediterranean aesthetic is the very allegory of the harmony inherent to nature. Rather than arresting attention, it seeks first and foremost to blend into its natural surroundings.
This experience is made possible in particular by the use of neutral or white tones and the arrangement of rounded volumes. Southern interior architecture thus creates a sense of reconnection with the environment.
Morning Penthièvre, a hybrid workspace
Blending Memphis madness with Mediterranean gentleness
Morning Penthièvre is a workspace that is at once sociable and welcoming yet also conducive to concentration. The Memphis patterns paired with terracotta tones echo this ambivalence. This choice of palette conveys an intimate world, while the rhythm of the patterns reinforces the spirit of exchange and sharing.
Laura sets out her choices in the light of her personal approach: « I often create hybrid, sensitive worlds; I like to mix styles to create sensations different from those a homogeneous world provides. », she confides, before spelling out her stance for Morning Penthièvre: « This workspace had to be a little bubble in Paris that takes you elsewhere. Memphis design brings rhythm, a gentle madness. The Mediterranean touch, for its part, brings a natural note and soothing tones ».
The reception, the coffee bar and the small lounge: well-paced Memphis touches
Penthièvre is a bespoke workspace, with bespoke furniture. Among the pieces designed and made by the fit-out team, the brick-built coffee bar takes pride of place. This piece, set on the 1st floor, was designed by Laura, who handed her plans to a mason who built the volume.
Other decorative elements are also specially designed for this space, such as the Memphis mural that adorns the main wall on the first floor. This mural features plays of asymmetric stripes and colours oscillating between black, white and pastel.
Some of the rugs designed by the Morning designers recall the Memphis pattern. They dress, in particular, the small lounge on the 1st floor and the ground-floor reception. We also find them in the small lounge on the 1st floor beside the coffee bar, as well as at the ground-floor reception.
The 1st-floor lounge: a space for sharing in the colours of the coast
The first-floor lounge is crowned with a Mediterranean touch through the icy mauve-blue of the walls and the hessian curtains. This fine, ultra-light material readily lets in brightness and natural light.
The jute furniture and rattan rugs are ideal for bringing an informal, warm atmosphere into the workspace. They also pair perfectly with the murals, the splashbacks and the furniture.
Asymmetric mirrors in a vivid Memphis style have been arranged to bring depth to the space. All were sketched and made bespoke by the teams.
The kitchens, living spaces par excellence, are also fitted with bespoke pieces. In the 3rd-floor kitchen you’ll find, in particular, the wall mural in fjord-green tiling with black and white finishes. An elegant nod to the black and white tiled splashback of the 1st-floor kitchen.
The terrace, a continuity between inside and out
The interior courtyard is laid out in a guinguette style and dressed with string lights. It displays tones that echo the interior of the space. “In the Mediterranean conception of the space, the inside and the outside are closely linked. I wanted to create a courtyard that wouldn’t feel disconnected from the whole”, Laura points out. The rattan and jute furniture also recalls the conviviality of the 1st-floor lounge, so conducive to informal exchanges.
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