Five unique houses, not suitable for all audiences, propose a different relationship with the home and its spaces.
1. TROMPE L'OEIL AND ILLUSIONS AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS
Getting rid of partitions and opting for color are the two strategies used by architect Gonzalo Pardo to free up space in this apartment and reorganize it again into a unique environment. Color is a very economical resource that allows us to build or recreate spaces," says Pardo. Its use has to do with the room itself and the orientation. In my own house, for example, the blue of the entrance refers to the experience of a cave. In this floor, which is very longitudinal, the color breaks with the linearity of the space".
Specifically, on the choice of each color, the architect comments that he chose yellow for the bathroom "because it is very bright";. At the same time, in the bedroom, he opted for Catalan tile (reddish tone) "because it is a very cheap material and because I was looking to get almost a false exterior: a terrace with a Mediterranean air," he says.
2. TAILOR-MADE SPACES TO ENJOY THE HOUSE 100%.
The main objective of the renovation of this apartment: to gain quality of life for the whole family, but especially for Celia, who has Parkinson's, has been achieved. "I always told them [gokostudio] that the renovation was like a small work of love for my wife," said the very emotional owner.
The living room, dining room, and kitchen are now, after the renovation, single spaces with lots of natural light. The chamfered area in the image's background, where the owner has set up her studio, also has plenty of light. "I like digital photography, and the room where I used to have the studio was very dark because it only had a window to an inner courtyard. Now, however, I see the trees, the Gran Vía it has changed the panorama 100%!" she says. A brave project where the client-professional collaboration and the successful management of an ambitious renovation have resulted in unique spaces.
3. HYBRID INTERIORS FOR MODERN LIVING
The architects responsible for the renovation, who are also the owners of the house, were not interested in maintaining an open loft-like layout: "We designed a sequence of well-defined spaces (in terms of light, materiality, shape) that would allow for multiple situations: being together, sleeping, running, playing, eating, resting...", says Ophélie Herranz, of NOMOS Arquitectos. Thus, La Nave (as they have named their house) is composed of spaces with very little difference between work and leisure.
4. MATERIALS AND DETAILS FOR A DWELLING ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES.
This project is an excellent example of how material becomes the protagonist of the reform and defines the space. We are talking about oriented strand board (OSB), which appears in the bedroom (see photo), the kitchen, and the day area. It is an inexpensive but beautiful material.
In any case, the architects have played in this project with the expressiveness of other materials, different textures, and various colors. As they state: "fine and sophisticated finishes are combined with raw surfaces, seeking contrasts that are further enhanced by artificial lighting." Thus, the gold or bare brick finish to define a bold proposal of industrial aesthetics is not suitable for all audiences.
5. SIMPLE GESTURES THAT REDEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPACES AND INHABITANTS.
The architect himself assures that the protagonist element in this apartment is "the volume with vertical wooden slats that surround the dining room and the entrance." This volume, which extends from the entrance to the apartment, frames a bench that serves as a reading area or a place for pleasant chats with the person cooking just in front of it. In the article we published about the house, we said that in today's architecture, partition walls have ceased to be simple dividing elements to become volumetric elements capable of defining the space and the relationship between the house's inhabitants. Nothing better than this example shows how a simple gesture transforms what would have been a normal day area into an exciting space.