jakob + macfarlane studio visit

jakob + macfarlane studio in paris, france (above) brendan macfarlane in front of images of ‘orange cube’ image © designboom

designboom met up with jakob + macfarlane (dominique jakob, brendan mcfarlane) at their studio in paris on a recent trip to the city. located on the right back of the french capital, the four-storey courtyard building retains a large portion of its original character with interspersed structural columns punctuating the simply organized work space. mainly finished in white, the office maintains a casual and humble atmosphere, with walls marked over time with holes from pin-ups of drawings and panels.

with a broad net of interest and expertise – architecture, technology, landscape, topography, archeology – the firm’s work explores all facets of their design from form to concept to fabrication. projects tend not to fall into a specific aesthetic category but instead focus on creating an environment that responds and engages in dialogue with its inhabitants. since their first realized project in 1998, the french duo has created a great number of designs ranging from a retrofit project for a bookstore to the first-place competition win of ‘docks de paris’.

‘orange cube’ by jakob + macfarlane in lyon, france (2011) image © roland halbe