india mahdavi and we are ona present rose, c’est la vie
Hidden behind an unmarked door in Paris’ 7th arrondissement, ‘Rose, c’est la vie’ is an unexpected sanctuary of softness amid the intensity of Art Basel Paris 2025, conceived by architect and designer India Mahdavi in collaboration with Luca Pronzato, founder of We Are Ona, and Mexican chef Jesús Durón. The week-long pop-up is set inside a former car repair shop, turned into a radical speakeasy of texture, warmth, and color, where every surface is swathed in a floral pink textile inspired by the Rose d’Ispahan. The project reimagines hospitality as an act of emotion, what Mahdavi calls ‘the seriousness of happiness.’
On the occasion of the event, designboom speaks with Mahdavi and Pronzato about the origins of their collaboration and the making of this multisensory dining experience. ‘We’re in a world that is quite aggressive right now,’ Mahdavi tells us. ‘The past is past and the future we don’t know. My work is always about creating memories, creating an ephemeral moment of happiness that you can take away with you.’
images by Laurent Giannesini, unless stated otherwise
a speakeasy of softness at art basel paris
The collaboration, Pronzato explains, grew out of a long-standing admiration for Mahdavi’s work. ‘At We Are Ona, we create culinary experiences where we like to invite not only guest chefs but also creatives, designers, artists, and architects to think in their own way about the culinary experience,’ the founder of the nomadic dining collective shares with designboom. ‘I’ve always dreamed of working with India, and I’m super happy today to celebrate her work and let our guests experience an India Mahdavi pop-up.’
What began as conversations between Paris and Mexico evolved into the idea of an ‘ultra-feminine, feminist speakeasy.’ For Mahdavi, this was a conscious departure from We Are Ona’s earlier projects, which she observed had been led mainly by men. ‘I thought I had to make a rupture,’ the Paris-based architect and designer notes. ‘A continuity within the quality, of course, but a rupture with the aesthetics that were being brutalist, minimalist, etc. I wanted it to be immersive — the experience has to start from the street. Where are you going? How do you enter? Having a bit of a surprise.’
That sense of discovery guided the search for the venue. After reviewing several options, the team settled on an old carrosserie, a former car workshop, where the rough industrial shell could contrast with Mahdavi’s delicate transformation, as her design wraps the entire interior in a bespoke textile inspired by the Rose d’Ispahan, a small and fragrant Persian flower often used in decorative arts. Find our full conversation with Luca Pronzato of We Are Ona and India Mahdavi below.
‘Rose, c’est la vie’ is an unexpected sanctuary of softness amid the intensity
in conversation with India Mahdavi and Luca Pronzato
designboom (DB): How did the idea for this collaboration come about? When did you start talking about it?
Luca Pronzato (LP): At We Are Ona, we create culinary experiences where we like to invite not only guest chefs but also creatives, designers, artists, and architects to think in their own way about the culinary experience. We are a culinary experience. And I’ve always been dreaming to work with India Mahdavi. I mean, I’ve been a big fan of India’s work for a really long time. We’ve been talking about it for a long time, and I’m super happy today to celebrate India’s work and to let the We Are Ona guests experience India’s Mahdavi pop-up.
the week-long pop-up is set inside a former car repair shop
DB: We Are Ona invited India Mahdavi to come and create this project together. What about the location — was it something that We Are Ona decided first and then invited India, or did you discuss it together?
LP: What I love in this creative process is the conversation that we have along the way with India. It’s pretty much carte blanche at We Are Ona. Of course, we still need to build a functional restaurant for a week, but I remember India talking to me about this idea of creating a super feminine speakeasy, where you can push a door in Paris and arrive in India’s world.
India Mahdavi (IM): My first reaction was to notice that We Are Ona has worked with a lot of men and fewer women. I thought I had to really make sort of a rupture, a continuity within the quality, of course, but sort of a rupture with the aesthetics that were being sort of brutalist, minimalist, etc. I wanted it to be a very immersive experience. And the experience has to start from the street. So, where are you going? How do you enter? Having a bit of a surprise element.
I started working with this idea of a fabric on the theme of the rose, which was inspired by the rose of Isfahan, a city in Iran. It’s a very small rose that’s beautiful and that has the most incredible perfume. It’s used a lot in Iran on plates and decorative arts. I just took it to a different scale and it turned into this kind of shimmery, feminine world. I say feminine because there’s something very radical in that, which is usually considered strong in a way. But I felt like maybe in this environment of the art fair, it would be nice to also have this feeling of being embraced by your grandmother, in a way. So, it was me responding not only to We Are Ona, but to the event in Paris, and also to my own aesthetics. Some of these projects you can never do when you’re working on a normal project. It takes you somewhere else. And that’s what’s super interesting with this experience, you’re kind of free to work with your imagination and what you want to say.
Then when I had this idea and showed it to Luca, he said, ‘I love it.’ I said, ‘We have to find a place where we can have this element of surprise.’ So, it really feels like a speakeasy. We found an old garage. Luca and his team proposed maybe five to ten spaces, and we saw which one could work and what sequences we could create around them, and then chose the one that worked best.
the industrial shell contrasts with Mahdavi’s delicate transformation
DB: You wanted to create a contrast between something typically seen as masculine, like a car workshop, and a much softer, more delicate atmosphere?
IM: It’s a carrosserie, so it’s where you work on the metalwork of cars. It’s an old carrosserie that had been transformed into sort of an office space, but you still have this roughness of the industrial feel of the building. The way you enter will be the surprise. But in any case, it’s a contrast, having this space, which is kind of rough, completely covered in one pattern.
Mahdavi’s design wraps the entire interior in a bespoke textile inspired by the Rose d’Ispahan
DB: Could you elaborate on the design concept, especially the all-over textile treatment, and how it contributes to the tactile and immersive quality of the space?
IM: The fabric gives you a very special feel. First of all, it’s a big space, and you want to absorb all the sound, so there’s an idea of comfort, of course. But I’ve always been interested in designing patterns for fabrics or wallpapers, and that’s part of my language. I use ornament a lot in my work because I think that it’s a way of really giving some kind of new identity to a space that we’re modifying. It’s an efficient and beautiful way of doing that.
At that moment, I was also designing a line of fabrics for this French company called Pierre Frey. So, we used that as a base, we took this fabric, scaled it right, and worked with them to produce it. It’s based on the rose. It’s very fresh, very familiar, because we’ve all seen homes covered with floral patterns, and I’m just taking it to a different level, making it a bit radical. I say it’s an ode to soft power, because soft power is something subtle that does exist, but when you have it all over, it becomes very powerful.
the space becomes a tactile cocoon
DB: Luca, how do the dining elements and overall experience dialogue with India’s design?
LP: It’s a total. Everything was settled with India, from the main architecture to the table design, tablecloths, plates, glasses, cutlery, and the aprons of the staff, even adding some surprises around the idea of the rose.
We also created a conversation with Jesús Durán, an amazing chef from Mexico that I really love. I think this will really add a lot to the experience. He’s one of the most incredible emerging talents — he used to work at Pujol, and we worked on some projects in Mexico with India. So there’s a nice link there.
guests share a communal table
DB: The way you describe this experience, it sounds like you’re focusing on positive elements — softness, happiness, warmth, and coziness. Why was it important to highlight these in this project?
IM: You know, we’re in a world that is quite aggressive right now. We’re surrounded by a future we don’t know. So I think that’s what it is, it’s about the present moment, the past is past and the future we don’t know. My work is always about creating memories, creating an ephemeral moment of happiness that you can take away with you. The idea of the experience is really important — we see so many images on social media that we don’t know what’s real anymore. The only way to know if something is real or not is to live it, to experience it yourself. So I think this multisensorial experience is super important. It’s also about togetherness, because with this dining experience you’ll be sitting maybe next to somebody you don’t know, since it’s communal tables. You’ll share the same experience, which will engage conversations and encounters. All these people coming are interested in experience, in design, in food. It’s all about that.
LP: I totally agree with India. The point on human experiences is so important because all these details have been designed to put the guests into a full culinary experience. That’s something we’re really proud of at We Are Ona, creating this togetherness.
Durón’s menu interacts with Mahdavi’s sensory landscape
project info:
name: Rose, c’est la vie, We Are Ona x India Mahdavi
artist: We Are Ona | @we.are.ona
designer: India Mahdavi | @indiamahdavi
location: Paris, France (7th arrondissement)
chef: Jesús Durón
occasion: Art Basel Paris 2025
The post india mahdavi and we are ona on unveiling their rose-draped speakeasy for art basel paris appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.