Vila Nova Apartment

FCstudio

Short description

Overlooking the iconic Ibirapuera Park, the Vila Nova apartment, located in São Paulo, Brazil, was commissioned by a businesswoman who had just purchased the property from a family. She separated from her husband after 40 years of marriage and decided to live alone. During the marriage, her home was always monochromatic, with some shades of beige and white, as her ex-husband didn’t like colors, which bothered her a lot. After the separation and having complete freedom, she requested that we introduce splashes of color into the spaces. And so we did. The composition includes: a red bookshelf, a green sofa, a yellow puff, and a dramatic Brazilian quartzite central kitchen island, among others. The colors take center stage in this apartment in a balanced and harmonious way.

Given the significant differences in needs and lifestyles, our project was requested. We removed walls and integrated spaces so that the new owner could perform her daily functions. The project was developed after understanding the specifics of her personality and way of living.

Previously, there was a separate TV room from the living area, the kitchen was closed, and the social area was small. The project expanded the social area by eliminating strategic masonry, integrated the social area with the kitchen, and also transformed two bedrooms into the master suite, more suited to the new needs.

For the kitchen island, Blue Deep quartzite was chosen for two main reasons. First, to bring a noble Brazilian material that we highly value, and second, because the material enhanced the client's request to add color, character, and personality to the project, reflecting this new stage in her life.

A large Freijó wood panel horizontally expands the space and clearly shows that, through this single gesture, the apartment is organized and enhances the social space. Perpendicular to the Freijó panel is the TV stand, where the Borgoundry color adds a lot of personality to the living area. The woods used in the furniture and cabinetry are domestic and certified, reaffirming our commitment to preserving our country's biomes.

The lighting reinforces the design intentions, as it was planned together with the cabinetry and layout. In this apartment, the lighting provides the ideal base and atmosphere for different uses of the space. Options with indirect light, directional, light ceiling, wall lights, and lamps allow for creating various sensations. We even positioned a minimalist lamp featuring a sculpture of a girl on a swing to illuminate, enhancing the piece that the client says represents her childhood.

The washroom is a dramatic focal point in the composition as a whole. Here, we reused an old vanity from the client to create the countertop and integrate the sink. Thus, we preserved memories through a retrofit of the existing piece. The wallpaper evokes national forests, and the ceiling lighting is made with dimmable tensioned fabric, allowing the atmosphere of this symbolic space to be changed by controlling the light intensity.

If we look at the floor plan before and after, we can see that we completely adjusted the functionality of the space by resizing according to the new needs. Examples include the creation of a large closet, a home office space, and reducing service areas by eliminating the staff room. We even removed the service entrance to the apartment, reflecting the new living style of the resident and society in general.

In addition to the architecture, we designed two pieces for this space: the Filo dining table and the Brasília coffee table. All pieces considered the proportion and materiality of the interior proposal, varying in marble, wood, and corten steel.

The types of wood and marble are commonly used in Brazil. In terms of design, the created furniture pieces also allude to the national scenario. The Brasília table, for example, is inspired by the urban layout of the Brazilian capital, while the Filo table encapsulates the essence of nature through design, where the texture of the wood on the tabletop evokes the tactile sensation of tree leaves and their veins in different directions from a central line, and the legs represent the tree trunks of our natural ecosystem. It is a subtle and delicate reference.

Thus, we enhanced spatial integration, flexibility of spaces, and overall harmony, supported by architecture, lighting design, and furniture design.