Ec8 - Aino Cabinet

Paris-based Charlotte Albert and Alexis Lamesta named their studio after the iconic Villa Necchi, an homage to the meticulous attention to detail that architect Piero Portaluppi brought to that landmark. They channel the same rigour into spaces that embrace the deliberate collision of styles and eras.

Rather than decor, the duo crafts attitude. Their eclecticism draws on the full sweep of 20th-century cultural reference: Art Deco structure meets modernist restraint, stainless steel pairs with lacquered surfaces in deep greens and burgundy, and the sensibility of 1980s Parisian nightlife runs through the narrative choices. The work of Jacques Grange, Andrée Putman, and Gio Ponti informs their vocabulary; films like American Gigolo and Fantômas set the atmosphere.

The studio rejects the "Instagram-perfect" interior in favour of spaces built to be lived in and to last. Natural materials are chosen for the way they evolve with light. Vintage sourcing integrates historical reference. Custom furniture, designed in-house for each project, is made to become an heirloom. Residential commissions across Paris (Quai Branly, Saint Germain des Prés, Quai François Mauriac) sit alongside hospitality work like the Hôtel Château d'Eau (2024), a 36-room property rooted in the culture of 1980s Paris.

Recognised in the AD 100, Necchi Architecture brought this sensibility to collectible design with the Ec8 collection, created exclusively for Monde Singulier. The pieces deliberately subvert bourgeois furniture conventions through a calculated rupture between matte and gloss, noble and humble, industrial and artisanal.

Charlotte Albert & Alexis Lamesta: "We don't aim for a defined style but rather tell a story in resonance with the place."