Studio Building, Apartment building in 16th arrondissement of Paris, France

The Studio Building is an apartment block in the 16th arrondissement of Paris with a facade of reinforced concrete and pink tinted terracotta. Inside, the building has several open courtyards and 50 duplex units lit by double-height glazed openings, while terraces on the top floor look out over the city.

Designed by Henri Sauvage, the building was put up between 1929 and 1932 as one of his last works before his death. Its facade and roof were listed as historic monuments in 1975, and the street side was restored in 1990.

The name Studio Building points to the duplex apartments with artist workshops, where the tall glazed wall of each unit was meant for painting and sculpture in natural light. The closed courtyard with its white tile facades gives the whole block a quiet, shared workspace feel that still reads from the street.

You can view the building from several streets since its facades face rue La Fontaine, rue du Général-Largeau and rue des Perchamps. Walking around the block gives the clearest look at the colored tilework and the contrasts between street and courtyard sides.

The street facades are covered with Gentil & Bourdet stoneware in several colors, while the courtyard facades are entirely white to bounce light into the apartments. That pairing makes the same building look different depending on whether you stand outside or step into the courtyard, a detail that is easy to miss when just passing by.