When invited to take part in the Exhibition Casa Cor Minas 2014, the architect was given an empty apartment and total freedom to design a space to function as a flat for an Executive. A functional, elegant and audacious space, to reveal the affective and at the same time visionary aspect of its future dweller.
The layout’s main concept is based on fluidity, an essential part of modern life, creating integrated spaces which are flexible,spacious, and allow for circulation throughout the apartment.
Dining, living, kitchen and bedroom are combined in a single space, while privacy and convenience are attained throughsimplestrategies, such assliding doors which completely close off the kitchen, hiding away the appliances when desired,and a leather coated wall that works as a headboard,and also concealsthe closet and bathroom behind it.
A suspended TV, attached to a revolving support, can be turned to face all directions of the apartment, the bedroom, living room, kitchen or the work/dining table. The wooden furniture that separates the living room from the bedroom was designed by the architect to work simultaneously as a dining table, work space, and entertainment center. Venetian blinds,made with reused leather, on both sides of the center, allow for ventilation of the electronic equipment.
The materials chosen for the coating of the surfaces and for the furniture bring together a great mix of textures and colors, taking advantage of the contrast between natural and industrial, opposing grey, dark blue and blackto yellow, caramel and green. This mixture is also seen in the furniture, from Brazilianand international designers.
The woven leather on the wall, by Elisa Atheniense, uses recycled leather and was adapted from its normal use in home decoration as cushion cover, being used as wall coating for the first time. This wall functions as a headboard and as a visual barrier that provides more privacy for the bathroom/closet area, allowing for the use of translucent glass as separations in the bathroom, instead of masonry walls.Reforested wood was used for the floor and ceiling.
The Artwork was chosen with the same intent to show the mixture of references, and the work of great artists from Minas Gerais State, such as Amadeo Lorenzato, Paulo Whitaker from São Paulo, and Luso-Brazilian Artur Barrio. Some works of Lorenzato displayed in the apartment are part of a private collection of Manuel Macedo and were shown in public for the first time.
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