Location_largo Rio de Janeiro, Milan
Year_2025
Area_110 sqm
Client_privat
Services_Preliminary and executive project, building site direction
Early twentieth-century buildings are living testimony of a time when residential architecture for the middle class was capable of producing marvelous creations in terms of decorative flair and spaciousness. With their spatial generosity, they now appear as a critique of contemporary measures and finishes, yet at the same time feature an internal distribution of watertight compartments, the product of completely outdated social habits. The renovation project for this apartment is based on a formal clarification of the historical and aesthetic values of the existing structure, which are then faced to new design elements that respond to the client’s current needs. With lifestyles having completely changed, the apartment becomes a force field where differences are expressed, each with its own unique qualities.
The rooms overlooking the public avenue are maintained in their twentieth-century integrity, while the complex of spaces and bathrooms overlooking the internal courtyard are radically renovated.
This creates a system composed of a serving space and a served space, where, however, a continuous transverse connection allows a flow of natural light and air to all the rooms of the house, overcoming the original narrow compartmentalization.
The entrance hallway, originally a blind room, is the first area to be transformed into a double-sided space. It is a threshold where, in a matter of seconds, the sophisticated balance between memory and oblivion becomes clear: between what is preserved from the past and what is grafted as an addition. A steel bookcase heads the additional bathroom block, immediately clarifying the formal and material tenor of the renovation. The kitchen opens directly onto the entrance hallway, forging a more immediate connection with the dining area. Sliding glass doors in translucent ribbed glass framed by thin metal profiles allow the kitchen to be closed off. This is the result of a partial reuse of a Scavolini, adapted with a counter-linear arrangement to enhance the perspective focus of the balcony. A new high table is added to the configuration, its custom-designed steel leg engaging with the graphic patterns of the bookcase.
There is then a new bathroom all in shades of outrenoir, a concealed laundry area, a multipurpose room dedicated to the office, additional closet space, and a sofa bed for guests. Although it can be closed off with a sliding door, this room is designed to remain largely open, creating the second transversal connections of air and light.
From this buffer space, acting like a diaphragm between the public and private spaces, one enters the sleeping area. The original room retains its generous original dimensions, also thanks to the presence of stucco ceilings. An existing false door has been replaced with access to a walk-in closet that leads to the master bathroom. This creates the third pattern of light: from the window overlooking Via Juvara to the bathroom window, natural light cannot be dimmed, and complete ventilation is achieved in a matter of seconds.
All the wardrobes were made by furniture company Sangiorgio based on a specially developed executive design. In the bedroom, the wardrobe design stems from the client’s request to integrate a television centered on the bed. Eschewing impractical concealed storage solutions, the wardrobe instead plays with anthracite, glass, and deep open compartments to accommodate the screen.
