I’m an architect, interior designer and a bit of an artist! I’m originally from the east of France but have dual Mexican and French nationality. I’m 31 years old, and I live in Paris.

After a general baccalaureate, I started with a master’s degree in interior design at the Penninghen school in Paris before going on to a second master’s degree in architecture, split between Vienna in Austria and Los Angeles.

I’m not sure that there is such a thing as an education in beauty. I think I have always been sensitive and interested in the beautiful but more in my own world, and I’ve long had a taste for, or rather an interest in objects, as well as in construction of any kind. I remember that as a child, my favourite game was drawing and building little houses (as many children do), but I also fitted them out, from floor to ceiling. I worked out every detail, the light, the matching (or not) of the colours, the fireplace. I was also interested in the outdoors, and I organised a system to collect rainwater to feed tadpole ponds. I was both a designer and a director. That’s how I spent my summers. And then in my “education in beauty”, to use your expression, or rather in my cultural apprenticeship – my mother and I shared a passion for repainting and wallpapering the rooms in the house every year. And then, I’ve always drawn. Drawing and painting were an escape. They allowed me to create my own way of expressing myself and developing the right language to express my often offbeat and misunderstood view of the world around me.

I think I’ve always known. I don’t feel as if I’m dedicating my life to it, but simply that I’m living my passion and that I’ve found a medium. Like a dancer who trains every day, I make a point of looking around me to capture a movement, a colour, an image that I could perhaps use one day. In this sense, I am reinvesting in this profession every day and devoting my life to it.

The apartment was occupied when I visited it. The owner and her family had lived here for over 60 years. I fell totally in love with the place, even though I really had to use my imagination, change all the spaces and rebuild everything. And then there was the woman who still lived there. She needed to feel comfortable with the buyer, to know that the place was (and would be) in good hands. When the work was finished, I sent photos to her daughter to show her the final result. I know she was happy about it! I like the idea of memory and positive nostalgia.

I wanted the place to be instantly welcoming, to make me and my guests feel comfortable, right from the moment they walk in the door. I also wanted something that was strong, with colour everywhere and a contrast between the materials. For example, natural parquet contrasted with materials such as Macassar ebony in the kitchen with its highly graphic Rain Forest marble, highlighted by brass shadow joints. For the living area, a glowing green velvet with oversized tri-coloured piping, set against the aluminium walls to bring light and depth to the space.

Everything or almost everything in the flat is tailor-made. This includes the Aztec-inspired bed with its brass rivets, the kitchen and the sofa, which has a brass block that houses all the home automation and the sound system. As the space isn’t huge, I tried to optimise everything like in a train carriage. I have some very personal objects, like the two resin coffee tables by my friend Hélène de Saint Lager (the aluminium work on the wall is by the same artist), and the leather and raffia lamp I found at a flea market – one of my passions. For some inexplicable reason, I also have a large collection of ashtrays, even though I’ve never smoked, and I don’t plan to (Laughs). The green pedestal table with its white marble is a touch of the Memphis style to break up the styles and accentuate my eclectic side, as is the brutalist Spanish stool from the 1930s and the lamp next to the bed from the Entler Studio in Los Angeles, which reminds me of my student days. I also have works by friends, a portrait of me (a birthday present, I might add) by my friend Leny Guetta and minimalist, airy compositions by Gauthier Rimbault-Joffard. Here, nothing is ever fixed, everything is always changing, in motion, like a moving train; So I have fun moving the objects around and rearranging them as the fancy takes me!