Located on Avenida Paulista, the apartment occupies the first floor of a building next door to the IMS (Instituto Moreira Salles) an important cultural and art institution. Unique in the building, this apartment opens onto a 180sqm terrace in the back that overlooks courtyard at the IMS and its huge Richard Serra’s installation.
The original plan with 4 bedrooms, a formal dining room, an enclosed tv room has been completely remodeled to host the new owner and his relevant art collection. Formerly accessible only from the bedrooms, the terrace is now directly connected to the living room, permitting an unoccupied view throughout the entire apartment, form the Avenida Paulista to the back.
The removal of almost every internal wall and the generous windows overlooking the Avenida and the side street, demanded new solutions to host the painting collection and to create some separate spaces: the new triangular and diamond shaped walls provide new hanging areas, separates into cozier spaces the grand living room and direct the sight to the terrace. These shapes can also be found in various other details, from the door handles, to the wood knobs and marquetry of the access door, up to the main entrance ceiling, a wide v shaped wood panel.
The new flooring that goes throughout the entire apartment, with few exceptions, is a pre-molded customized terrazzo, and every area has been highlighted by a different stone: the entrance, fireplace and dining room showcase a brown Mirage quartzite, the kitchen and laundry a Juparaná Montiel pinkish Granite, the outdoor area an Aran Blue granite for the furniture, all designed for the apartment, and a travertine flooring and planters. Shelby green quartzite and Red Italian travertine, only non-Brazilian stone, delineates each powder room where matching fabric complete the monochromacy.
Besides the carefully selected art pieces that populates the walls, the furniture selection also has been specifically purchased for the apartment, with a specific focus on modernist pieces. Starting from the 6m wide round sofa in the lower living room, an unique piece by Sergio Rodrigues, sharing the space with an Italian coffee table by Willy Rizzo for Mario Sabot and a pair of Marcel lounge chairs by Kazuhide Takahama, Gavina. In front of the fireplace, a pair of Cubo chairs by Jorge Zalszupin, L’Atelier, a Drummond sofa and an Amelia coffee table both by Sergio Rodrigues. sits on a burgundy Indian rug. Next to the terrace, behind the last angled wall, a pair of Soriana lounge chairs, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, Cassina joins a coffee table by Geraldo de Barros, Hobjeto.
