The strength of this 85 m² apartment is in fact the truth to materials and it’s efficient and functional aesthetic. Nothing is fake!. The design doesn’t scream. Despite the textures, It allows the clients to put into the space their own personality, by filling it with works of art, carpets and loose furniture.
Project Name: Petropolis Apartment
Studio Name: Atelier Aberto Arquitetura
Project size: 85 m2
Site size: 85 m2
Completion date: 2015
Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil
Photography: Marcelo Donadussi
Quite fragmented, the property previously did not exhibit the natural light that today illuminates the living room and the kitchen. After the renovation the Kitchen, integrated to the laundry area, got a window and today has a great connection with the living area. Much of the success of these interventions resides on the project’s functional partitions, with custom cabinets that separates the areas and still are used as storage. They are like multifunctional walls and bring space unity. By not working simply as walls, they don’t weigh. As examples, the gray cabinet that separates the kitchen from the laundry and the wardrobe that extends the living room wall assuring privacy to the intimate area. Also, the master bedroom’s wardrobe that hides the door to the bathroom. These solutions weren’t new in architecture. Since the 1950’s, they’ve been used as an effective way to design small apartments interiors.
The linear cupboard that covers the entire extension of the kitchen has a niche for decorative objects, vertical drawer with spices, barbecue grill (only possible after the renovation), refrigerator and a door to the laundry area. All lined up just as wall. The kitchen isle dimensions were adjusted to work as an extension of the preexisting wooden dining table.
In the living room, real cement was applied on the elongated shelves wall (nothing against burnt cement paints, but they weren’t so common yet at that time). Among the loose furniture, the Brasília armchair and the Tubo center table stand out, both Schuster’s design.
The long linear couch on the living room was actually, two couches. After the renovation, they were transformed into a single bipartite one. In order to highlight the paintings on the wall, they were selected and set together with the clients.
