DTACC, Urban and Interior “Poethics”
Founded in 1955, the DTACC agency is part of a long history marked by the rehabilitation of Parisian buildings. Initially led by its founders, Jérôme Delaage and Fernand Tsaropoulos, then taken over in 1997 by Jacques Cholet and Georges Carvunis, it is now directed by Christian Sbeih, Jérôme Liberman, Fabrice Mathy, and interior architect Yola Listowska. This continuity is intentional, with the transmission of expertise at its core. Today, the agency embraces the designation “DTACC, urban and interior poethics,” combining poetry and ethics to assert a practice attentive both to use and to the memory of places.
Long associated with the transformation of Haussmannian buildings, the agency has expanded its focus to more complex issues, particularly those related to the second half of the 20th century. These highly technical buildings, often undervalued, raise a central question: what should be preserved, and what should be transformed? DTACC develops a nuanced approach, attentive to existing qualities. Its projects—from the Malakoff-Humanis headquarters to the iBox tower and Washington Plaza—extend and reinterpret existing construction and urban logics.
The work begins with listening: understanding the client, identifying uses, and establishing a precise diagnosis. From there, the project takes shape. The team avoids standardized responses. It identifies weaknesses, enhances strengths, and corrects without excess. Transformations are often discreet from the street, revealing themselves in interior spaces, circulation paths, and the depth of plots. This is where the project unfolds, through precise adjustments, sometimes barely visible.
This approach relies on a strong complementarity. Christian Sbeih and Jérôme Liberman lead with pragmatism and structure the project’s thinking; Fabrice Mathy oversees execution in all its dimensions, from technical to regulatory. Yola Listowska, trained at the École Boulle, places interior architecture at the heart of the process. This is not about applied decoration, but about working with void, light, and volume. The interior is conceived as a fully constructed space, capable of giving coherence and strength to the project.
At DTACC, there is no claimed style. Each intervention arises from its context. Materials are chosen for what they produce: wood to soften concrete, a texture to extend a narrative. Environmental considerations are addressed without display. The agency follows a guiding principle: intervene as little as possible in the existing structure, preserve what can be preserved, and treat each transformation as a legible graft.
With around fifty collaborators, DTACC, urban and interior poethics, maintains a deliberately controlled scale. The partners remain involved at every stage, from competition to construction. This proximity fosters a shared culture and ensures continuity between design and execution. Interior architecture, developed by Yola Listowska within an embedded yet autonomous structure, extends this approach by deepening the relationship to use.
Today, DTACC is exploring new fields, particularly in public commissions, with the same level of rigor: intervening where a project can profoundly transform a site. “Urban and interior poethics” encapsulates this stance: an architecture that integrates, transforms, and invites inhabitation.