Dark wood frames the art collection in this 90 m² apartment

The young businessman was looking for a new apartment in Leblon (RJ) when he asked for help from his architect friend Rodolfo Consoli – from the CASACOR Rio team – before deciding on the property of 90 m². With the keys in hand, the professional was given a free hand to carry out a complete renovation, including the decoration of all the rooms. Among the main requests were: a suite for him, a generous separate closet, PVC acoustic windows (noise-proof), clear projects to highlight and enhance his artworks, and a wooden block at the entrance of the living room to delimit the hall, keeping the projects in the field of vision of those arriving while reserving the dining area. Among the main modifications to the property's floor plan after the renovation, the living and dining rooms (previously separate) were integrated, as well as the kitchen and laundry room. The washroom was transformed into a full bathroom to serve the guest room and occasional visitors, the smaller (middle) room was transformed into a generous closet with independent access, and the old social bathroom was annexed to the main bedroom to create the owner’s suite. The project's concept aimed to create a less compartmentalized apartment, with a neutral and clear base, so that the owner would have more freedom to display and rearrange his artworks, objects, and furnishings, especially those of more vibrant colors. "It was the owner himself who chose white walls and the natural aguia wood finish, which has a darker tone with well-defined grains," reveals Rodolfo.

"As he is passionate about decoration and art and even took courses in interior design, most of the new furniture and ornaments were chosen by him. So we can say that this project was made together," he adds. In the decoration, which follows a youthful contemporary style with vintage touches, many objects came from the client’s old apartment, highlighting the pink pig Polochon (by Lina Bo Bardi), the blown glass vase (by Carol Gay), the decorative wall plates (by the Italian Fornasetti), the Mão cobogó brick and the leather bear (by the Campana Institute) and the white porcelain vase (by the German Rosenthal). Some furniture in the living room was also reused from the owner’s collection, such as the Mocho and Magrini stools, the Janete side table, and the Diz armchair (all by Sergio Rodrigues) and the Bow coffee table (by Guilherme Torres). The rest was acquired according to the project specifications, highlighting the vintage furniture pieces found at auctions and antiques, such as the MP97 sofa and MP105 armchair (by Percival Lafer), the GB dining chairs and the Ripado bench (by Geraldo de Barros) and the FK2 dining table, with a top made of jacaranda strips (by Florence Knoll). "Since we wanted darker wood furniture to contrast with the white walls and the sandy-colored floor, we went looking for iconic creations from the 1950s to 1970s, a period when jacaranda dominated Brazilian production. Then we replaced the upholstery with materials of more current colors and textures, such as the armchair by Percival Lafer, which was completely upholstered with mustard velvet and became an important splash of color in the room," justifies the architect. The art collection is also impressive: Maritza Caneca (photograph above the sofa), Adrianna Eu (painting in the intimate hall), Vik Muniz (painting above the bar), Julio Le Parc (pair of small paintings above the bar), Berna Reale (painting above the dinner shelf), Sandra Mazzini (small painting next to the dining shelf), Luiz Hermano (metal wall sculpture on the left side of the sofa), Ascânio MMM (white floor sculpture next to the sofa), Galvão (pair of orange and yellow reliefs on the right side of the sofa), Daniel Mullen (painting above the mustard armchair), José Bento (trio of wooden tree sculptures near the living room window), Yutaka Toyota (painting near the living room window), Danielle Carcav (small painting in the pantry), and Victor Arruda (painting above the bed headboard).