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  • Studio Venturoni warms up Rome apartment with earthy hues

    Bands of terracotta and sand-coloured paint wrap around the walls of Trevi House, a one-bed apartment in Rome that’s been overhauled by Studio Venturoni.The apartment is situated at the heart of the Italian capital, just a stone’s throw away from the famous Trevi fountain.

    Its interior had previously been dominated by heavy masonry partitions that were splitting up the sizeable 80-square-metre floor plan into several small, cramped rooms.

    Custom wooden cabinets and bookshelves accumulated by the owner were also blocking natural light from coming in.

    Tasked with creating a greater sense of space inside the apartment, Milan-based Studio Venturoni decided to knock through all of the existing partitions.
    This more open floor plan has allowed room for a central dining area. Surrounding walls here feature wide bands of terracotta and sandy-beige paint, two earthy hues which the studio felt were synonymous with Rome.

    Studio Strato creates cosy reading den in renovated Rome apartment

    Studio Venturoni also hoped that the horizontal bands of colour would make the room appear wider.

    Terracotta and orange surfaces appear again in the adjacent living area, which has been dressed with a lengthy grey sofa that slightly rises up on one end like a chaise lounge.
    This piece was specifically selected for its slight resemblance to a triclinium: a type of seat that would appear in the formal dining rooms of affluent Roman homes, composed of three adjoining chaise lounges on which residents would recline while being attended to by servants.

    Other striking furnishings – like Fabio Novembre’s face-shaped Nemo armchair – have been included to match the “monumental feel” of the apartment’s grandiose mahogany doors and wooden ceilings, which the studio decided to preserve during the renovation works.
    “My career has allowed me to understand the importance of detail: everything must be in the right place and we should not be afraid to express bold concepts, even in a domestic setting,” the studio’s founder, Francesca Venturoni explained.

    Burnt-orange tiles have been used to line the floor and the lower half of the walls in the kitchen, which was given a complete re-fit with jet-black cabinetry.
    A curved black counter has also been installed directly beside the kitchen’s window, so that inhabitants can overlook the bustling tourist crowds or listen to the sound of the waters from the Trevi fountain while enjoying breakfast.

    Cooler tones appear in the apartment’s bathrooms, where surfaces have been lined with grey-flecked stone tiles.
    The bedroom also features a blue headboard and curtains, tempered by rich, mustard-coloured dress cushions and brass lighting fixtures.

    Other homes in the historic city of Rome include a cosy apartment by Studio Strato, which has its own reading nook and an industrial-feel flat by architect Alessandro Tomei that boasts exposed concrete surfaces and iron-framed glass partitions.
    Photography is by Michele Bonechi.

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  • Whale Design Lab references Louis Kahn for makeover of Mài Apartment in Vietnam

    Geometric forms and graphic terrazzo surfaces feature in this duplex apartment in Ho Chi Minh City that has been updated by Whale Design Lab. Locally based studio Whale Design Lab revamped the formerly lacklustre interiors of the Mài Apartment to reflect the client’s penchant for modernist architecture. A particular point of reference was the work
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  • Ravi Raj and Evan Watts expose chunky timber in Spears Building Loft renovation

    Architects Ravi Raj and Evan Watts have created a monolithic, concrete-like chimney in the overhaul of a loft apartment inside a former cigarette packing factory in New York City’s Chelsea neighbourhood. Raj, who runs RARARA, worked with Watts of D&A Companies to overhaul the residence in the former factory, which was completed by the Kinney Brothers in 1880. It also served as a furniture warehouse before it was converted into a condo building in 1996.

    Previously featuring “dark dwelling spaces”, as described by the team, the residence was renovated to create a bright and open living space for a couple.

    This included stripping out walls and dropped ceilings to create larger spaces and revealing existing brickwork and timber columns and beams.

    At the rear of the residence, the team reconfigured the layout of the bedrooms and bathrooms, creating a third bedroom and making a new hallway.

    “Extraneous millwork and partitions blocking daylight to the interior were thoughtfully removed to help open each room and improve the flow between them,” said Ravi Raj Architect.
    “The great room presented an unexpected discovery after the team removed the dropped ceilings and unnecessary wall enclosures, revealing the original heavy timber structure – in surprisingly great condition. This move both simplified the layout while also paying homage to the building’s historical fabric.”

    Throughout Spears Building Loft, the designers chose a soft and pale material palette that complements the existing details and also brightens the interiors.
    Bleached walnut planks covers the floor in the living area, while the walls and built-in storage are painted bright-white or yellow.

    Gold paint drips down green mural at Chelsea Pied-à-Terre by Stadt Architecture

    A wood-burning stove is updated with a hearth covered in a plaster that looks like concrete and extends into a bench either side. The team chose the render because it is meant to reference the warehouse’s poured concrete floors.

    Pale wood also forms the base of the white-marble island in the kitchen topped and old corner cabinets are ebonized black. They form a series of dark detail throughout, like the dark wooden dining chairs and artwork.
    “The owners took care in selecting minimal yet soft and textured furnishings paired with colourful art that highlight the industrial-like quality of the space,” the team added.

    The red brick is painted white in the bedrooms to make them all them light and bright, while the bathrooms display a mix of black, white and grey marbles.
    Spears Building Loft is located in New York’s Chelsea neighbourhood next to the city’s elevated park, the High Line.
    Other renovation projects in the area include a residence that architecture duo BoND turned into a light-filled home with a stainless steel fireplace surround and an apartment with a green mural dripping in gold paint.
    Photography is by Nick Glimenakis.

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  • Casa Atibaia designed to be “ideal modernist jungle home”

    Creatives Charlotte Taylor and Nicholas Préaud took cues from the modernist architecture of Lina Bo Bardi to dream up these renderings of Casa Atibaia, an imaginary home that hides in a São Paulo forest.In a series of ultra-realistic renderings, the pair have envisioned Casa Atibaia to be nestled amongst the forested banks of the Atibaia river in São Paulo.
    This is the first collaborative project between Préaud, who is co-founder of 3D visualisation practice Ni.acki, and Taylor, who runs Maison de Sable, a studio that works with a range of visual artists to create fictional spaces.

    The imaginary home was informed by Casa de Vidro, or Glass House, which Italian-born Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi designed in 1951 for herself and her husband, writer and curator Pietro Maria Bardi.

    Comprising a concrete and glass volume supported by slim pilotis, the house is considered a significant example of Brazilian modernism – an architectural movement that both Taylor and Préaud have come to admire during their careers.

    “Lina Bo Bari has been a huge inspiration for the most part of my career,” Taylor told Dezeen.
    “Discovering Nicholas had an equal passion and excitement towards Brazilian modernism was a perfect match, something we had to explore.”
    “Having lived and studied architecture in Brazil, I was overwhelmed by the presence and national pride around modernist jewels such as Casa de Vidro or Casa das Canoas by Oscar Niemeyer,” continued Préaud.
    “These homes have become landmarks not only for their style and modern construction methods at the time, but also because of the simplicity of the lifestyle they implemented.”

    Like Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro, the imaginary Casa Atibaia features a white-concrete framework and expansive glass windows.
    However, instead of pilotis, this house would instead be elevated by huge jagged boulders that jut out from the terrain below.

    Taylor and Préaud’s creation would also be much more sinuous in shape – the river-facing elevation of winding inwards to form a courtyard around a cluster of existing palm trees.
    This courtyard would help loosely separate the private and communal quarters of the home.
    “Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro was an inspiration mostly in terms of this ethereal feeling of a delicately suspended home… gentle curves, extended raw concrete slabs and a primal relationship with the elements are our tribute to Brazilian modernism,” the pair explained.

    Some of the boulders propping up the home would pierce through the interior and be adapted into functional elements like bookcases, a bed headboard, or craggy plinths for displaying earth-tone vases.

    Casa Plenaire is an imaginary holiday home for lockdown escapism

    In the living room, a curving cream-coloured sofa is accompanied by a couple of sloping armchairs and a floor lamp with a concertina-fold shade.
    Wooden high-back chairs surround the stone breakfast island in the adjacent kitchen.

    The home would otherwise be dressed with a blend of contemporary and antique decorative pieces, ideally from the likes of French designers like Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Chapo.
    “It would definitely be a dream home for us in another life,” added Taylor and Préaud.

    “Casa Atibaia is a design experiment in which we combined both our impressions and aspirations of the ideal modernist jungle home,” the pair continued.
    “Through this experiment we sought to squeeze out the essence of what Brazilian modernism means to us, blurring the boundaries between inside and out while maintaining a cosy, homey feeling.”

    Charlotte Taylor was one of nine individuals to feature in Dezeen’s roundup of 3D designers, visualisers and image-makers.
    She said the recent rise of dreamy renderings coming from the likes of her and Préaud may be down to the fact that, in light of the global coronavirus lockdowns, the appetite for escapism is “at an all-time high”.
    Earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, Child Studio designed Casa Plenaire – a fictitious seaside villa where those stuck at home could imagine having the “perfect holiday”.

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  • YSG carries out tactile overhaul of Budge Over Dover house in Sydney

    Terracotta brick, aged brass, and aubergine-hued plaster are just some of the materials that interior design studio YSG has included in its revamp of this house in Sydney.The house – nicknamed Budge Over Dover – is located in Dover Heights, a coastal suburb that lies to the east of Sydney.
    Despite the home’s spacious 825-square-metre floor plan, it previously played host to a rabbit-warren of light-starved rooms and poky corridors.

    Local studio YSG was brought on board to create a more “fluid” sense of space across the ground floor and improve the home’s visual connection to its sizeable garden.

    YSG began by knocking down a majority of existing partition walls to form a sweeping living and dining space.

    Surfaces throughout have been loosely rendered with aubergine or toffee-hued Marmorino plaster, forming a discrete backdrop to the studio’s “interplay of polished and raw finishes”.
    “Settings are embellished by tonal and tactile variations that delineate the neutral zones via swathes of colour and surface patinas,” explained the studio.

    At its rear lies a kitchen that boasts black-stained timber cabinetry. It’s anchored by a chunky prep counter, the base of which is crafted from aged brass while its countertop is made from veiny Black Panther marble.
    In front of the countertop is a row of stools upholstered in fluffy cream wool, and an oversized white lantern dangles overhead.
    “Wall sconces and lamps were selected to consciously pool light in areas and brushed velvet tonal depths as opposed to installing integrated ceiling lights,” added the studio.

    The kitchen directly faces onto a lounge area that has a large fawn-coloured sectional sofa dressed with mismatch patterned cushions.
    A breakfast nook has also been created in the corner, with a seating banquette made bespoke to curve in line with the wall.
    Inhabitants can choose to dine here or at the more formal dining table that’s surrounded by tubular-framed chairs with tan leather seats.

    This entire living space has been elevated to sit on an expansive platform covered with handmade terracotta tiles, bringing it in line with the garden patio.
    YSG purposefully used the same tiles to clad the floor of the patio in attempt to “draw the outside in”.

    The project also saw the studio cut back the size of the pool, which used to butt up against the back door, making space for more outdoor furnishings.

    Amber Road uses dark tones to furnish 1906 apartment in Sydney

    Beyond the brick-lined portion of the ground floor is an additional seating area that features the home’s original travertine flooring. Here, a beige sofa perches on a forest-green velvet rug, along with an angular maroon armchair.
    A complementary green-tone painting has also been mounted on the breast of the huge fireplace, which curves out from the wall.

    Upstairs, the studio has continued the rich palette but with “more saturated intensity”.
    The master bedroom has been painted a dark, mossy green shade to draw attention to the impressive ocean views seen from the windows.

    Another bedroom has dusky pink surfaces, brass light fixtures and an opulent natural-stone vanity table.
    Lighter tones are offered in one of the kid’s bedrooms, which has sky-blue walls and whimsical cloud-shaped lamps hanging from the ceiling.

    YSG was established at the beginning of 2020. Prior to this the studio’s founder, Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem, led interior design studio Amber Road alongside her sister, landscape architect Katy Svalbe.
    Previous projects by Amber Road – which has now closed for business – include Polychrome House, a colourful 1960s-era property, and the dark-hued 1906 Apartment – which is owned by the same family who reside in Budge Over Dover.
    Photography is by Prue Ruscoe.

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  • Think Architecture completes Zurich home with lake and vineyard views

    Swiss practice Think Architecture has created House at a Vineyard, which includes a veranda and sunken courtyard that have vistas across the waters of Lake Zurich.The house is situated in a wildflower-filled meadow that lies beyond a small vineyard near Lake Zurich.
    It was created by Think Architecture for a young family of four who, after showing the practice a few inspirational images from Pinterest, said their key request was that their home was modern and had a simple, symmetrical layout.

    “Though symmetrical villas have long dominated architectural history, in recent decades they have tended to appear only as neoclassical imitations,” said the practice.

    “House at a Vineyard aims to prove that this specific spatial arrangement still has its place and can be translated into a contemporary design.”

    The house comprises a stacked pair of rectilinear volumes, both of which are punctuated with tall recessed windows that offer views of the surrounding landscape.
    A three-metre-wide veranda runs the entire length of the lower volume of the house that boasts herringbone-pattern decked flooring.

    At its centre is a small, sunken courtyard centred by a single tree, which the practice has specifically placed to fall in line with the sequence of reception rooms indoors.
    Cushioned seating runs around the perimeter of the courtyard, allowing the family to relax there during the warm summer months while overlooking the waters of the lake.

    To complement the exterior of the house, which is rendered with pale, off-white plaster, surfaces of the internal living spaces have been washed with lime. Herringbone oak flooring also runs throughout, mirroring the decking on the veranda.

    Think Architecture creates minimal hilltop house in Zurich

    Think Architecture worked alongside Atelier Zurich to develop the aesthetic of the home’s interiors, which have been finished with a few standout decorative elements.

    In the kitchen, the breakfast island is topped with a slab of murky-green marble, while the dining room has a long blood-red table surrounded by cane-back chairs.
    This room is flanked by staircases that lead to the first floor, where blue-grey joinery and wall panelling has been introduced. Several contemporary artworks have also been mounted on the walls.

    Think Architecture was established in 2008 and is co-led by Ralph Brogle and Marco Zbinden.
    This isn’t the only residential project that the practice has completed in its home city of Zurich – last year it created House in a Park, which comprises a series of stone and plaster-lined volumes.
    Photography is by Simone Bossi.

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  • Longhouse by Partners Hill spans 110 metres across Australian bushland

    Architecture practice Partners Hill has designed this lengthy shed-style home in the Australian town of Daylesford, Victoria to incorporate living, cooking and agricultural facilities.Described by Partners Hill as “a study in inclusion”, Longhouse contains a farm, restaurant-cum-cookery school, guest rooms and living quarters for its owners, Ronnen Goren and Trace Streeter.
    The practice worked alongside Goren and Streeter over a period of 10 years to design the multifunctional property.

    “The Longhouse recalls a Palladian tradition of including living, working, storing, making in a single suite rather than referring to the Australian habit of casual dispersal,” said the practice’s founding partner, Timothy Hill.

    “It emphasises how much – or how little – you need for a few people to survive and thrive. A handful of animals, enough water and year-round crops.”

    Nestled amongst a 20-acre plot of land just outside the town of Daylesford, the 110-metre-long building overlooks rolling plains of bushland.
    Goren and Streeter were charmed by the site’s natural vistas but, after several visits, came to realise that the area was subject to extreme weather conditions including strong winds, erratic downpours of rain and snow during the colder months.
    A variety of animals such as kangaroos, wallabies and foxes could also be found roaming the site.

    This “beautiful but hostile” environment is what encouraged Partners Hill to design Longhouse as a huge shed-like structure which would be “big enough and protected enough for the landscape to flourish inside”.
    Translucent panels of glass-reinforced polyester wrap around the exterior of Longhouse, which is punctuated by a series of windows that offer views of the landscape.

    “Smart gel-coated cladding provides different levels of UV and infrared resistance,” explained the practice.
    “Panels with different finishes have also been deployed to optimise solar penetration and shading depending on the orientation of each facade and roof plane.”

    An algorithm was used to design the home’s 1,050-square-metre roof, which has been specifically sized to harvest an optimum amount of rainwater.
    Any water collected is stored in a series of tanks around the site – some of which are concealed by grassy banks – and can be used to service different rooms. It can also be used in the event of a bushfire.

    The main entrance to Longhouse is at the western end of the building, which plays host to a sizeable garage for storing farm machinery and an enclosure for the cows, pigs and fowl.
    A short walkway leads through to the kitchen where cookery workshops are held and meals are rustled up for guests dining at Longhouse. Designed to appear as a “surprisingly lush haven”, the space is bordered by leafy trees and plant beds overspilling with foliage.
    Vine plants also wind down from the ceiling.

    Australian cypress pine has been used to craft a majority of fixtures and furnishings, selected by the practice for its resistance to rot.
    The same timber has been combined with red bricks to form a couple of gabled structures that accommodate cosy eating areas.
    Some elements, like the kitchen hearth, are built from glazed clay tiles.

    Partners Hill hides Aesop pop-up among the undergrowth at Tasmanian music festival

    A set of stairs leads up to the guest rooms on the first floor, referred to as The Stableman’s Quarters. One of them features warm orange walls and is centred by an oversized daybed piled high with plump cushions.

    Goren and Streeter’s private living quarters, nicknamed The Lodge, are also located on Longhouse’s first floor. Surfaces throughout have been painted a pale shade of blue.
    “Even in the depths of cold, grey winters – there is an uplifting sense of blue skies and long sunsets every day,” added the practice.
    In a nod to the owners’ passion for 19th and 20th-century interiors, the practice has also included a handful of decor elements that “recall the manors of a bygone era” such as clawfoot bathtubs and ornate ceiling roses.

    Partners Hill is led by Timothy Hill, Simon Swain and Domenic Mesiti. Previous projects by the practice include a wooden pavilion for skincare brand Aesop – the structure was specially created for a Tasmanian music festival and was shrouded by shrubbery.
    Photography is by Rory Gardiner.
    Project credits:
    Architecture, interior design and landscaping: Partners HillCladding fabricator: Ampelite

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  • Two-storey bookshelf rises inside renovated Madrid house

    Spanish architecture firm Zooco Estudio has covered the walls of this Madrid residence with bookshelves that span two levels.House 6 is a detached single-family home located in northern Madrid. Local studio Zooco Estudio overhauled the residence contrasting white interiors with pale wood cabinetry and herringbone patterned flooring.

    The centrepiece of the design is a white shelving unit that extends two floors and wraps around the walls of the house’s living room and dining area.

    On the lower level, the volume comprises dozens of rectangular cases for storing books, movies and electronics, including a mounted television. A series of narrow cubbies also occupy the space between a glass dining table and entryway creating storage for hanging apparel.

    “As a unifying element, a shelf rises colonising both living and lobby spaces,” the studio said. “This way we integrate aesthetic and functionality in one single element.”
    The shelves continue on the upper level with a rectangular volume along a hallway. Pendant light fixtures hang from the ceiling to illuminate the floor below.

    In the kitchen, pale oak fronts the cabinetry and details the base of a white kitchen island. White tiles form the splashback behind the sink and cover the rectangular range hood hanging above the island.

    Beta Ø Architects completes overhaul of X House in Madrid

    A spiral staircase with black metal steps is carved into the wall to create a sculptural focal point within the space.

    Upstairs the bedroom and bathrooms are concealed by a wall of slender wooden slats lacquered white. The narrow strips separate the master bedroom from the bathroom. A section of the millwork is intentionally left open to expose the shower.

    “A continuous view was required so you can see through the slats to the shower,” the studio added. “However, the private areas of the bathroom are completely hidden.”
    In the bathroom the studio has covered the walls and floors with white tiles and blue grouting. A geometric counter clad with blue tiles snakes across the ground and up the wall to form a storage closet in the space.

    Zooco Estudio is an architecture firm with offices in Madrid and Santander founded by Miguel Crespo Picot, Javier Guzmán Benito and Sixto Martín Martínez. The studio has also completed an art centre in Verín that comprises several granite buildings and a child play area built out of wood for a co-working office in Santa Monica, California.

    Other renovation projects in Madrid include a house with a permeable metal sculpture designed by Beta Ø Architects and an apartment by Lucas y Hernández Gil with sliding wall partitions.
    Photography is by Imagen Subliminal.
    Project credits:
    Project manager: Miguel Crespo Picot, Javier Guzmán Benito, Sixto Martín MartínezConstruction: Nimbo Proyectos S LLighting: Zooco EstudioFurniture design: Zooco Estudio

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