The VMS project consists of renovating an old apartment, measuring 320m², in a building located in the Jardins district, in São Paulo. The objective was to transform the entire space, since there were many internal divisions that separated the environments and made them dark, as the light did not pass from one environment to another.
Project Name: VMS
Studio Name: Studio AG
Architecture and interior design – Studio AG Arquitetura
Team: Amanda Castro, Giovana Giosa, Gabriela Guimarães
Lighting Project – Studio AG Arquitetura
Production – Vca Artworks
The clients’ wish, a couple with two adult daughters, was to have a spacious, integrated apartment, full of natural light and comfortable to transform the city of São Paulo into their new home, where they could frequently receive friends and family. From this premise, the focus of the renovation was the social area of the apartment, where the walls were broken and the existing spans expanded, to promote greater physical and visual integration between the environments, in order to provide a free flow of people, light and ventilation.
The challenge of working with open plans, however, is to promote the subtle division of environments and bring dynamism to the space. Therefore, the intention was to convert this restlessness into a design point in order to transform the trivial and avoid monotony through creation and experimentation with the aim of surprising and enchanting.
To this end, the architects understood the space as mutable, where sensations and visuals create emotions from different modes of interpretation. In this way, they sought elements that could bring this dynamic to the space, without weighing it down in essence, and the muxarabi proved to be ideal for this purpose. Because of it, they were able to play with visuals and transparencies on the panels with a geometric grid, making it possible to understand new textures based on the way they are arranged and the user’s movement in space.
Depending on the way in which the visitor explores the environment, he is surprised by the resulting elements overlapping side by side and also by the incidence of light throughout the day, creating different games of light and shadow. The different finishes, depending on which side the users are on, are also responsible for validating this dynamism. On the side of the living room, where the white color prevails, the muxarabi was painted white, while on the side of the hall and the veranda, it assumes its original wood finish, adapting to the materials that prevail in each environment.
The social area is connected to the service area through a sliding door that connects the kitchen to the dining room, allowing integration only when necessary. In this environment, they transformed what was previously divided into two smaller spaces, pantry and kitchen, into a spacious and linear kitchen, with a central island for cooking and eating and cupboards on both sides, with plenty of natural lighting.
In the intimate area, the changes were smaller, but still significant. At the request of customers, they transformed what were two rooms that shared a bathroom into two separate suites. To this end, they sectioned the toilet that was adjacent to one of the bedrooms in two, which allowed the creation of the bathroom for the guest suite, without losing the quality of the toilet space.
In the master suite, the proposed new flows were responsible for the main changes. A passageway was created next to the windows and the doors to the master’s and ladies’ bathrooms were positioned at the ends. In the remaining space, the bedroom and closet were divided by a wall strategically positioned away from the main door, in order to form a siphon of view and maintain the privacy of the room. In order not to draw attention to the bathroom door, they mimicked it next to a white lacquered panel that also houses a sideboard and TV.
The living room, TV room, dining room, hall and balcony have been floored in Peroba Dourada by Indusparquet. The panels and the Muxarabis in white paint, both in American Oak are by Ulimax. The curved sideboard in Calacatta Michelangelo Marble is by Arthus. And the carpentry in lightened walnut veneer and painted frame is by Status Marcenaria.
One of the highlights of the furniture project is the piano, positioned in the hall, which has been completely restored.
