The project involves the renovation of an
apartment of 250 sqm located on the main floor of a nineteenth century building
in the historical centre of Rome, originally occupied by the white collar
middle class.
The hill top position of the building, at
a higher level than the surrounding blocks, with openings on three sides, originates
rooms flooded with natural light, while the change of the seasons allows the
view of always different panoramas.
The original layout consisted of
individual areas bounded by bearing walls of considerable thickness and
communicating with each other through small scale openings in width and height,
so that one perceived the feeling of going through a maze, unable to grasp the
importance of the spatial environments and their brightness.The new layout of the house has been inspired by the customer’s requirements: feng
shui, the ancient Taoist geomantic art of China, the creation of a lobby, which
represents a filter between the outside world and the home’s intimacy, a more
open and representative floor plan in the areas dedicated to lunch and
conviviality, a private domain that, in addition to the master bedroom, contains
all the necessary spaces to fulfil the owners’ life habits, an area dedicated
to children, not only as a bedroom, but as an environment where to study and
play, the design of built-in cabinetry, suitable for a large wardrobe, easily
accessible in order to allow the family a rapid choice of their miscellaneous
items.
Most of the existing partitions have been
knocked down and connections between the rooms have been rebuilt, in order to
create a more fluid and comfortable space.
The load-bearing walls, which make up most
of the walls, have been carved to create narrow openings, whose width was determined
by current standards. But it is their balance of width and height that gives a
greater vertical impetus and more brightness to the 4.50 meters high
ambiences.
Natural light now floods in and falls into
the darkest areas, such as the long corridor leading to the large public area
devoted to the living and dining rooms, music and conviviality.The construction of built-in furnishings, that
integrate partitions and bearing walls,
generates a sense of continuity of the space, emphasized by the use of selected
materials, such as white leather declined in the realization of
elements with different functionsaround the home:
in the living room the wall containing the audio video equipment is the
diaphragm with the music room, in the lobby
the panelling generates a filter between the outside and inside, in the corridor it becomes a cabinet, in the
master bedroom it contains the sliding doors for access to wardrobe and makeup
room.Spaces are bright and monochromatic, the lacquered wood floor and white painted
surfaces dominate over the furnishings that seem to float in space.
Most of them are custom-designed and lined with reflective
surfaces, such as the dark brown crystal cabinet in the living room or the
series of consoles in different scales according to their functions and
declined in a wide palette of colours: red crystal in the lobby, amber glass
for the makeup room, white lacquer finish in the master bedroom.
These elements are paired with a few manufactured
design items: Must a leather tufted taupe coloured sofa and Bourbon tables and
coffee tables in amber mirrored glass by Longhi, Venus by Bonaldo streamline
chairs, a Hockney chaise-longue fluid as a piano music, and sculptural Capri
chairs by Minotti.
The main bedroom is an airy space, the room
being completely flooded with the morning light, while a leather panelling
lines the walls and becomes a macro heading for the Alcova Maxalto canopy bed. The
wardrobe was designed like libraries in ancient palazzos: a walkway provides
access to the cabinets above, the steps with airfoil section are back-lit by
LEDs. They are encapsulated into railings cut out of sheets of thin metal, a
kind of contemporary lace made by laser cutting.
The makeup room is the only place where
colour has been used for the walls. It emphasizes the sophistication of an
ambience whose function is the personal body-care. Taupe colour dominates the
walls that have been treated with Cebos decorative painting,
Cabinets panelled with amber colour
mirrors create a kaleidoscope of changing images, where the environment is reflected
on the objects.
Hanging lamps with glass tubes of the series
Diadema by Vistosi emphasize the smoothness of the ambience.
The master bathroom is a casket lined with Bisazza’s Heart new white mosaic
glass tiles and paved with large slabs of Sivec marble, the lean lacquer finished
console, with washbasins as support, has a soft, gentle form. The elegance of
this sophisticated, refined space is emphasized through the elegant mirror
lit by the crystal tubes of Diadema
lamps; a large round shower with colour therapy has been integrated into the
old spiral service staircase of the building.In the guest bathroom a Piper wash-basin by Antonio Lupi seems to float in the space,
the shiny black surfaces of the mirror frame and of the cabinet seem to merge
into the mosaic Heart new black decoration
that line the walls.
The lobby is a filter between public and private life. It intentionally differs
from the pure and minimalist environments of the house and theatrically welcomes
guests and residents.
It
looks like a box lined in white leather, with the floor designed as a pure
black marble carpet stud with Sivec white marble decorations. The cascade of
glass tubes from the Diadema chandelier by Vistosi and the extraordinary size of a red
velvet upholstered sofa dominate this space.
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