Confident or not confident: feeling good at home is his priority. Rebecca Benichou, creator of Batiik Studio, tells us how she makes each interior a unique place. Since 2014, Rebecca and her architecture studio have been offering sublime projects that continually combine aesthetics and rationality. Light on his Parisian apartment that looks like a summer house!
Good evening - Your confidence, you live it...
Rebecca – I live it rather well in the sense that I take it as a period when we have more time to do things. To think too... It pushes you to look for the little detail, the one that will make all the difference, to find what materials to use, how to make the most of the space...
This confinement is also a bit like a reset. For me, it's not an unpleasant period, it's more an opportunity to spend time at home, in my apartment that I redid a little less than a year ago.
It's like being somewhere in the Balearic Islands... But it is nevertheless in the 18th arrondissement of Paris that Rebecca has put down her suitcases!
Good evening - What has changed for you since the beginning of this period of confinement?
Rebecca – We realize that, in the end, telecommuting is doable even for architects! Meetings with customers seem easier by videoconference because we lose less time. This is a new way of working to consider in the future!
Good evening - To feel good at home, have you set up little rituals, habits that do you good?
Rebecca – Few new rituals, few “confidential goals”. In everyday life, I have a fairly steady pace. Now is the time for me to do what I want when I want. The only ritual I have put in place is when the weather is nice outside: I open my window, I put a cushion on the floor and I sit on it to sunbathe.
Besides, it made me want to create a table that you could hang on your balcony to be able to eat outside or at least, have the feeling of it. I know it already exists but I want to make a beautiful object that you can put on your beautiful Parisian balcony.
"It's really time for me to do what I want, a little when I want"
Good evening - In this context, your favorite object is...
Rebecca – I would say my phone. But not to hang out on it, rather to stay in touch with my relatives and friends.
Good evening - In general, where does your inspiration come from?
Rebecca - In general, I draw a lot of inspiration from my travels, I attach myself to each place and especially to their history. I really like going out at night, going to the cinema, seeing exhibitions, these are sources of inspiration for me. Fashion too, my curiosity about nature, the city...
Good evening - Do you have any new sources of inspiration?
Rebecca - My "urban visits" where I really take the time to observe each architecture that surrounds me. In this period we can only go out 1 hour a day so I take advantage of this hour to observe everything around me: the door handles, the tiles on the facades, the patterns, the colors, all the architecture sort of... I pay a lot more attention to the little details. In addition, I work a lot with my collaborator and my inspiration often comes from talking with her.
Good evening - In this somewhat particular context, what would you recommend to someone who would like to boost their creativity?
Rebecca - Take the time to focus on things you never have time to do! Watch films on art, documentaries, why not embroider or sew... In the last few weeks, I've been concentrating on cooking. So the advice I would give is to do things with your hands!
Good evening - A song that you find inspiring or makes you feel good...
Rebecca - Yes I have one and I love it: Only You by Steve Monite
Good evening - A book...
Rebecca - I'm reading Ravage de Barjavel. Not very glamorous but that's what I'm reading (laughs).
Good evening - A place...
Rebecca - As I live at the foot of Montmartre, I often go to this place and I admire the magnificent view that can be had over the whole city. Usually, we do not realize the magnificent things that surround us, because we go up and we stay barely 5 minutes without really taking the time to look. So as soon as I can go, I go there and admire everything around me. Since the beginning of this confinement, we have changed our perception of seeing things outside.
Good evening - The first thing you will do pot-confi, it will be...
Rebecca - I will go dancing with friends!
“Since the start of this confinement, we have changed our perception of seeing things outside”
Good evening - The first place you will go will be...
Rebecca - Before the confi, I wanted a weekend, all alone, in Marrakech. But in the end, I would like to go back to Rome to fill up on history. Everything is magnificent, there is this old, outdated, aged, decrepit, abandoned side… I love it! Why Roma? Because it's also the first trip that I did alone last year and I enjoyed it because I realized that I was doing what I wanted when I wanted without any constraint or concession that the we can have when we travel with several people. Being alone in confinement reminds me of this trip to Rome and makes me want to go back, it also reminds me that sometimes being alone is good.
“ At times, being alone is good ”
Photo credits : Rebecca Benichou / Batiik Studio