The apartment in its original state presented a complicated distribution of fragmented spaces lacking natural light and ventilation; despite its generous dimensions it appeared small and dark. The objective of the project was to clean the space to achieve an open configuration of flexible areas that would break the existing static arrangement and promote interconnectedness between individual spaces yet still provide the possibility of privacy.
The first of two principal elements is a series of mobile panels that pivot around their own axes and slide along rails. Through different positions, and artwork placed on the panels, the system generates a diverse arrangement of interior facades and when closed converts into a single length of wall that isolates the desired space. In this way the master bedroom emphasizes its relationship with the urban context by introducing the greenery of the tree canopies and, if desired, the public interior of the dining room. The same event occurs with the living room; it can be a separate, private space or incorporated into the dining room.
The entrance wall also participates in the movement and allows the kitchen to be excluded from the rest of the public zone. In this manner it is possible to convert the master bedroom, the living room, dining room, and kitchen into a single space, isolate any number them, or simply give them a view into the adjacent space by partially opening the panels.
The second element of the intervention was to concentrate the bathrooms and dressing rooms into a single element with multiple functions. This wooden volume is sufficiently narrow in width to save space but long enough to physically connect to both bedrooms and simultaneously create visual connections to the exterior, and in this way introduces the vegetation of the exterior into all interior spaces of the apartment.
The panels and the service volume are made from the same wood and represent the same conceptual element fractured into two distinct forms.
The fundamental goal was to design an apartment that transforms itself continually, that opens or closes, or that integrates or separates itself according to changing needs and emotional states, or in other words a vibrant space that empathizes with its inhabitants.
2010
2010
