Designed by MATÚ Arquitetura, by architects Fernanda Lins, Gabrieli Azevedo, Ana Pernambuco and Bruna Marchiori, the apartment located on Avenida Angélica, west of São Paulo, is home to a multispecies family – a couple, three cats and two dogs, one of them being visually impaired.
With 250 m², the objective was to create a project that merged the interests and personalities of the couple – she: from arts, literature and romanticism, and he: from music, records and industrial style.
The common point between the two different personalities is the love between them and the animals that have been added to this very diverse family. In the first contact, clients talked about their interest in "catifying" the apartment and the architects managed to create a project that would suit everyone, both in terms of function and aesthetics.
A social area was created with the purpose of meeting the demands of each one: a shelf-playground for the cats, a low and modular sofa to help with the accessibility of the dogs, an office for the resident to work and play guitar, and a large bench, under the window for the resident to have her moments of reading, contemplation and exhibition of some works of art, of affective value.
In the intimate areas, the direction was the same, one of the rooms being the temple of meditation, reading and display of the most personal items for her, another room with greater demands for storage and a more industrial language for him and, finally, the couple’s bedroom, which is actually the family room. In it, the large platform not only ties the demands of storage and accessibility, but also organizes the sleeping environment in a comfortable way for the whole family to stay together, in a single structure, but each with their own space. In addition, the piece was designed based on the customers' concern for the access of animals under the box bed they previously had, with dangerous and hard to reach openings. The platform was the result of blocking this access, in addition to other facilitating functions in relation to space optimization.
The main challenge of the project was to transform the original service bathroom into a sauna, due to the dimensions of the space, demands and functional specifications for its proper functioning. The desire was for a minimalist and impactful sauna, so a single line of coverings by Portobello was designed for both the floor and the walls, but with different and complementary colors in each part of the sauna, without weighing aesthetically in this small environment.
One of the great highlights is the white locksmith shelving unit in the living room. The idea was to combine function and design with equipment that normally has little aesthetic appeal. Given the importance of pets in the family, the architects were free to assume this element as a prominent piece, with shapes and dimensions compatible with the scale of the apartment.
The kitchen, in turn, was designed with bespoke joinery, with rounded corners, in an attempt to escape the obvious and minimize corners, reconciling more differentiated shapes and functions.
Several furniture such as chairs and armchairs used in the layout of the apartment are from the school furniture brand of the residents - Maqmóveis. From the beginning, customers suggested the use of some pieces in an unusual and creative way, with the possibility of customizing the color and fabric finishes. In addition to the very well attended aesthetics and functionality, the furniture was the final link to a home full of affective family references.
Team:
Architects: Matú Arquitetura, Gabrieli Azevedo, Fernanda Lins, Bruna Marchiori, Ana Pernambuco
Photographer: Cris Farhat
Materials Used:
Maq Móveis - chairs, armchairs and shelves
Estúdio Bola - conical vases, sofa side table and bed side table
The Cube - dining table vases, shelf glass vases and decorative objects
Casa Trópico - linen bedding
Deezing Kids - futon and pillows
D.pot Objetos - vases and decorative objects
Il Casalingo - kitchen crockery
Paula Tsuyama Paisagista - floral arrangements
Mi.Dois.Mi - ceramics and special dishes
Líder Interiores - sofa, dining table and sideboard
Luiza Perea - living room rugs
Branco Casa - wallpaper
Portobello - sauna coating
Sabbia - bathtub
Marcenaria Santana - total joinery
Serralheria Edição Limitada - total locksmithing
Ceci Yakabi - civil sauna renovation
