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      Retroscena is a colourful apartment renovation by La Macchina Studio

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      Italian architecture office La Macchina Studio has renovated a 1950s apartment in Rome, revealing original terrazzo floors and adding bold colours.Set in the Italian capital’s Appio Latino quarter, the mid-century one-bedroom apartment already had Venetian stone floors.

      The original terrazzo floors have been restored
      La Macchina Studio uncovered them and enlisted local craftsmen to restore the terrazzo, while the apartment was transformed into a “surreal set where reality and fiction coexist in a quasi-theatrical scene”.
      “With Retroscena, we wanted to enhance the irreverent and surreal nature of the architectural story,” said studio founders Gianni Puri and Enrica Siracusa.
      “It is inextricably linked to its photographic alter-ego by playing with colour contrasts, graphic motifs and unexpected incursions.”

      Pops of primary colour stand out against white walls

      Walls and certain elements have been painted bright white, to create a neutral backdrop for the graphic pops of colour.
      An arched doorway and a low, midcentury-style cabinet in the living area are painted a matching bright blue.

      A blue-painted wooden doorway leads to the bedroom
      A pair of zesty lemon-yellow fabric curtains can be pulled across to separate the living area from the kitchen diner and screen off the door to the balcony.
      The arching doorway juts out almost a metre from the wall, screening the kitchen furniture from the view of the hallway. The blue-lacquered wood marks the entrance to the bedroom.

      Yellow curtains can screen the living room off
      A red wall-hanging placed above the sofa marks another splash of primary colour.
      Another doorway set flush to the wall opens to reveal the two-room bathroom. In the first room, a bath and shower are all surrounded by square ceramic white tiles, set in dark grouting to create a graphic check mosaic.

      White square tiles form a check mosaic in the bathroom
      A pointy arched doorway leads to the second half of the bathroom, where a toilet and a bidet face each other across a sink, which is framed by the arch.

      Studio Strato creates cosy reading den in renovated Rome apartment

      Peacock-blue enamelled walls and a dimmable ring light mirror above the sink add to the theatrical styling of the bathroom.

      An arched doorway frames the sink
      In the bedroom, the floor has a ruddy hue, the result of a brick-red micro cement treatment applied by La Macchina Studio. A low-hanging orb-style pendant light and peach velvet curtains create a softer aesthetic.
      Pinkish cement flooring also differentiates the entryway. Built-in white wardrobes in the hallway conceal a hidden room that is used as a study.

      The bedroom has a micro cement floor
      La Macchina Studio was founded by Puri and Siracusa in 2013 and is based in Rome.
      More exciting Roman apartment renovations include a flat with terracotta-coloured walls and an apartment with a reading den visible through a porthole-style cutout.
      Photography is by Paolo Fusco.

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      Studio Venturoni warms up Rome apartment with earthy hues

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      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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