November 14, 2017

Japanese Minimalism Informs Ramdane Founders’ Tokyo Apartment

Busy, multi-faceted creative lives have taken this French-Moroccan couple all around the world. Victoire de Taillac-Touhami, a successful entrepreneur, is a self-described traveler and adventurer. Her husband, Ramdane Touhami, has designed clothes and launched brands in Paris, collaborated with Liberty in London, and clocked-up experience as a DJ and journalist. “I like to be a sort of jack-of-all-trends,” he says. Over the years, Touhami has also designed a series of personal residences in Paris, Tangier, and Brooklyn, New York, that reflect the pair’s rich life experience and cosmopolitan outlook. This 1960’s abode in Tokyo—where the couple, their three children in tow, moved to open an outpost of L’Officine Universelle Buly perfumery—is the ninth.

Touhami took the lead in furnishing the house, but both partners had a voice. This being Japan, they pursued a minimalist aesthetic, with family members and guests bunking down on futons. There are traditional touches, such as a tea room and tatami mats. Modern additions include custom furniture produced by a Japanese company. Most notable are the wool-covered seating elements in a range of shapes and hues that create a rainbow effect. No wonder Touhami has named it the “Koloru House.”

The couple in their living area, with tatami-mat flooring. Photography by Mark C. O’Flaherty/Living Inside.
Other traditional features include a tea room. Photography by Mark C. O’Flaherty/Living Inside.
More wool-covered elements furnish a nook below the stair.Photography by Mark C. O’Flaherty/Living Inside.
A Harry Bertoia chair and George Nelson clock accent the entry of the 1960’s house. Photography by Mark C. O’Flaherty/Living Inside.
Chairs by Charles and Ray Eames bolster the dining room’s mid-century aesthetic. Photography by Mark C. O’Flaherty/Living Inside.
Kvadrat wool–covered custom elements form a pedestal for art. Photography by Mark C. O’Flaherty/Living Inside.

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