Serbian designer Irena Kilibarda believes that design can and should always be both functional and beautiful. For her, the two factors should never have to be mutually exclusive. With this mantra in mind, she founded her own product and interior design cabinet dsignedby. in 2008 with the help of her sister Iva and has been pursuing the realisation of this ethos ever since.
Specialising in highly advanced LED and OLED technology, dsignedby. produces original pieces of statement furniture and products that are as aesthetically beautiful as they are impressive in terms of their technology. Coming from a background of architectural design, Irena Kilibarda has mastered the art of combining simplicity with classic influences before adding final high-tech touches on her out of the ordinary designs. It is this nod to both the legacy and future of product design that is dsignedby.’s hallmark.
Trained at the Architectural Faculty of Belgrade University, Irena shares her time between her native Serbia, as well as Paris, Hong Kong, Milan and a number of other major metropolis’ visiting retailers, participating in major design exhibitions and tradeshows, and gathering inspiration for future designs.
This 43m² apartment is situated in 1st Arrondissement of Paris in a 1930’s building near the Louvre museum. Before dsignedby. set to work on this project, the entrance and public areas of the building had been recently renovated, but nothing more had been done to the apartments themselves other than a rudimentary cleaning in order to make them appealing to potential buyers. Beyond that, the apartment was a clean slate for dsignedby. to fully design and renovate this one bedroom property. The first thing that was rectified was the way in which the apartment had been made to appear much smaller than it really was due to the very low ceilings and badly arranged spaces. Despite these details, the potential of the overall space was still very much apparent to Irena. Therefore, the goal became to renovate the apartment in order to render it a comfortable, functional living space for its young owner.
www.dsignedby.com