Inspired by ‘Singletown’ – an installation at the 2008 Venice Biennale by KesselKramer and Droog Design – the client’s brief of creating a variety of apartment interiors was expanded upon to first design twenty-two fictional end users, varying from the ‘seasoned professional’ to the ‘solitude seeker’ and a multitude of others. Each apartment was given its own distinct personality according to its envisioned user.

The concept of ‘luxury’ was not simply restricted to a combination of rich materials, but extended to the varying spatial functions. Living rooms were oriented to maximise Pjazza views, kitchens were moved away from walls to create more social kitchen islands oriented towards living spaces, hallways and double volumes were designed to celebrate art, soaking tubs were moved out of bathrooms and into living spaces. The craft of construction was celebrated – rough concrete ceilings, walls and beams were left exposed, sometimes suggesting a three dimensional interpretation of Piet Mondrian’s studies of proportions between lines in space.

The apartments were launched at the end of 2011, and in the end of 2012 they were all sold to the new owners, some of whom, curiously, were very similar to the fictional characters we had initially designed.