paris.designboom takes over the marais
For Paris Design Week 2026, designboom set up a temporary studio at 72 Rue des Archives in the Marais, bringing people together around conversation, making, and the exchange of ideas. Across the week, it became a base for podcasts, workshops, meetings, and gatherings, with designers, architects, artists, collaborators, and friends of designboom passing through.
We recorded podcast sessions with INDX|Global around the idea of utopia with leading architects and designers from India, turning the room into a working set as guests dropped in and out. But, as anyone who has spent time at a design week knows, some of the best parts happen between the official bits. On Thursday evening, the doors opened for the paris.designboom apéro, an informal gathering of designers, architects, creatives, friends, and collaborators over drinks, food, and conversation. It was less about a formal program than simply spending time together, with the temporary studio becoming a meeting point for the wider designboom community. On Saturday, the setting shifted again as Clarks Originals and Topologie hosted an invitation-only workshop inspired by katagami, the traditional Japanese technique of cutting paper stencils to create intricate patterns.
all images by Alix Urien, unless stated otherwise
a studio for conversation
The temporary space was busy from the beginning of the week. Alongside the social gatherings, it became a working studio for a series of podcast recordings with INDX|Global, bringing architects, designers, and other voices together for conversations around ideas shaping contemporary design.
Our conversations focused on utopia, with some of India’s leading architects and designers joining the discussion. The subject connected directly to designboom’s 2026 editorial direction, which has been exploring Utopian Optimism and the idea of utopia as something that can be used to imagine and work toward different ways of living.
the paris.designboom studio at 72 rue des Archives in the Marais
an apéro in the marais
On Thursday evening, the studio changed character again. The paris.designboom apéro welcomed the wider designboom community for an informal evening of drinks, food, and conversation. Friends, designers, architects, partners, and creatives came through the doors; familiar faces caught up, new introductions were made, and the studio gradually filled up as the evening went on. It was also a chance for people who usually know designboom through its editorial output to meet some of the people behind it. There was plenty of design-week talk, of course, but it was not really the focus. Conversations moved from projects and exhibitions to Paris, travel, work, upcoming plans, and whatever else came up.
hosting a week of conversations, gatherings, and workshops
clarks originals and topologie bring making into the mix
On Saturday, the studio became a workshop space. To close Paris Design Week, Clarks Originals and Topologie created an experience around customization, Japanese craft, the Clarks Wallabee, and Topologie’s Konbini bag. The workshop took its cue from katagami, the traditional Japanese technique of cutting paper stencils to create intricate patterns. Guests selected from a series of pre-cut designs and used them to customize the two pieces, starting with the Wallabee. They chose a stencil and color before applying the pattern to the vamp of the shoe, gradually building up a design of their own. The same idea continued with the Konbini bag, where selected motifs were applied through screen printing. From there, guests could add their own finishing touches, choosing laces and fobs for the Wallabee and straps for the Topologie bag.
Across the week, 72 Rue des Archives became a place where different parts of designboom could happen at once. But paris.designboom was also the first stop in a new travelling series of talks, exhibitions, and gatherings, moving from one design city to the next. Paris Design Week was the starting point, a few days of bringing the designboom community together.
the studio became a base for a busy few days of podcasts, workshops, meetings, and gatherings
the paris.designboom apéro brought together designers, architects, creatives, collaborators, and friends
an informal setting for the wider designboom community to meet during Paris Design Week 2026