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Uchronia founder Julian Sebban demonstrates how to work with texture and colour using SketchUp in the second part of his filmed Design Workshop, which was produced by Dezeen for the software brand. More
French studio Uchronia has completed the interiors for Cafe Shin in Paris, which features a central coffee counter topped with a washi-paper roof to emulate a traditional Korean house. More
In the first instalment of Dezeen and SketchUp’s Design Workshops, Uchronia founder Julien Sebban explains how he used SketchUp’s software to create a fictional bar interior characterised by amorphous forms and soft edges. More
Dezeen is teaming up with SketchUp to launch the Design Workshops video series in which leading designers describe how they created especially commissioned interior environments.
The series will launch in two weeks with the first of two videos hosted by Uchronia founder Julien Sebban, who will explain how he used SketchUp’s design software to create a fantasy bar interior.
Across two videos, Sebban will describe his practice’s approach to hospitality design projects, and demonstrate how SketchUp’s software allowed him to create and visualise a 70s-themed space characterised by colourful gradients, curves and soft edges.
Uchronia designed a 1970s themed bar for the Design Workshops video seriesSebban’s first workshop will focus on form, while the second will explore the theme of texture.
Sebban’s Paris-based practice Uchronia, known for its bold application of shape, colour and reflective surfaces, was named emerging interior designer of the year at last year’s Dezeen Awards.
Julien Sebban is an interior designer and the founder of UchroniaFollowing Sebban’s workshops, the series will continue with a two-part video workshop delivered by London-based interior designer Tola Ojuolape.
Ojuolape, who is the founder of eponymous design practice Tola Ojuolape Studio, has designed a library in SketchUp especially for this project.
She will deliver a two-part video workshop on the design, which is a proposal for Clerkenwell in London, an area known for design and makers.
Ojuolape was shortlisted at last year’s Dezeen Awards for emerging interior designer of the year. Her practice is characterised by its use of natural materials and an emphasis on narrative.
Interior designer Tola Ojuolape will also contribute to the Design Workshops seriesSketchUp is 3D design software used to model architectural and interior design projects, product designs, civil and mechanical engineering and more. It is owned by construction technology company Trimble.
Dezeen collaborated with the brand last year on Climate Salon, a podcast series exploring the role that architects and designers can play in tackling climate change.
Partnership content
This video series was produced by Dezeen in partnership with SketchUp. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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Glossy walls, ruched curtains and oversized flower-shaped cushions characterise this eclectic 1970s-style Paris apartment, designed and owned by Uchronia founder Julien Sebban.
Called Univers Uchronia, the apartment is in the city’s 18th arrondissement, close to the Uchronia office – a Parisian architecture and interiors studio known for its bold application of shape, colour and reflective surfaces.
Julien Sebban designed Univers Uchronia as his homeSebban designed the dwelling as his home, which he shares with his husband and Maison Royère artistic director Jonathan Wray.
The Uchronia founder created the apartment as an extension of his studio – “it’s truly a manifesto of our universe,” he told Dezeen.
Colourful interiors anchor the apartmentSebban worked with local studio Atelier Roma to create all the walls and ceilings, which are either lacquered and glossy or made of matte pigmented concrete, respectively reflecting or absorbing light throughout the day.
Finished in hues ranging from cloud-like pale blue to lemony yellow, the walls and ceilings complement the poured-in-place resin floor that spans the apartment and features a bold motif that “waves and moves in relation to the architecture”.
A metallic island features in the open-plan kitchenThe home is anchored by a predominantly pink living space, which includes Uchronia-designed pieces such as low-slung interlocking coffee tables made from walnut burl and orange resin.
Translucent and gathered pink curtains were paired with a geometric vintage bookshelf and a blocky but soft sofa finished in purple and orange.
A bespoke onyx dining table was created for the home”The apartment is very colourful with ’60s and ’70s inspirations and a mix of our contemporary pieces and vintage objects,” said Sebban.
In the open-plan kitchen and dining room, a veiny Van Gogh onyx table was positioned next to a metallic kitchen island, illuminated by a blobby seaweed-shaped table lamp.
Ornamental jellyfish decorate the home officeA portion of the otherwise orange wall was clad with tiny, mirrored tiles. Reflected in the gleaming ceiling, the tiles have the same effect as a shimmering disco ball.
Opposite the dining area is Sebban and Wray’s home office, characterised by a bright orange, built-in day bed topped with silk flower-like cushions and a wave-shaped backrest.
The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar designAbove the bed, ornamental jellyfish were suspended like planets against a constellation of gold stars, which decorate the ombre orange and yellow wall that nods to the colour-drenched interior of the city’s Cafe Nuances – also designed by Uchronia.
The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design. Accents include dusty pink alcoves and ceramic tiles depicting underwater scenes, as well as a lily pad-shaped rug and a mirror resembling a cluster of clouds.
Ten self-designed homes that reflect the unique styles of their owners
“The apartment defines the codes we have tried to develop at Uchronia over the last four years,” concluded Sebban.
“It’s a play on colours, textures and materials, and a love letter to French craft.”
Univers Uchronia is “a love letter to French craft”Uchronia was named emerging interior designer of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023. The studio previously renovated a Haussmann-era apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with multifaceted furniture pieces created to mirror the appearance of precious stones.
Various architects have designed their own homes, such as John Pawson, who created this minimalist second home in the Cotswolds in the UK.
The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot.
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Gradated lava stone flooring and suspended planet-like orbs feature at the Cafe Nuances coffee shop in Paris, which was created by Dezeen Awards-nominated studio Uchronia.
Located on the city’s Rue de la Tremoille, the coffee shop is the third Uchronia-designed branch for Parisian coffee roaster Cafe Nuances.
Cafe Nuances’ latest branch has a bright white facadeThe one-room shop is fronted by a bright white facade in stark contrast to its vivid-hued interior.
Studio founder Julien Sebban was informed by the landscapes he experienced on a recent trip to Tunisia when creating the cafe’s walls and lava stone flooring, which are decorated in ombre swathes of red, orange and blue.
The colorful interior was informed by sunsets in Tunisia”They reminded him of the sunsets in the Tunisian desert – a veritable ode to the gentleness of summer days,” said the studio, known for its playfully eclectic designs and shortlisted in the emerging interior designer category at this year’s upcoming Dezeen Awards.
The coffee shop’s entrance is flanked by two bright red benches topped with metallic-effect fabric – one curved, and the other straight.
Uchronia crafted the counter from stainless steelLow-slung interlocking tables, which can double as stools, can be reconfigured to suit customers’ needs.
Uchronia placed a chunky stainless steel counter at the back of the intimate cafe, which is overlooked by deep orange lacquered shelving – a design element found in the other two Cafe Nuances outlets.
Beata Heuman designs colour-drenched Hôtel de la Boétie in Paris
“This new address picks up on the codes present in the second shop, accentuating the [coffee] brand’s colourful, futuristic retro universe,” explained the studio.
A cluster of striking, spherical objects were finished in the same colours as the rest of the space and suspended from the reflective ceiling.
Planet-like orbs add decoration to the space”Unlike [this branch’s] two big sisters, whose interiors feature striated shapes, here, the poly mirror tiles are complemented by half-spheres in saturated colours, accentuating the dreamlike feel of the coffee shop,” continued Uchronia.
“They create the illusion of floating balls, which could be mistaken for Saturn.”
Bespoke interlocking tables also function as stoolsThe studio previously livened up a Haussman-era Paris apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with furniture crafted to nod to the appearance of precious stones.
Elsewhere, Canadian design duo Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster created a sky-blue coffee shop in a century-old house in Buffalo, New York, with an optical illusion staircase.
The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot.
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