More than 100 works of art make up the décor of an apartment with gallery vibes

For years, the entrepreneur admired the 1960s building in 'Copanema' (RJ) with the flower boxes facing the street. One day, he decided to ask the doorman if there was any apartment available for sale. “To my surprise, the answer was positive. There was a unit of 225 m²,” he says. Before closing the deal, he scheduled a new visit to the property, this time in the company of his architect friend Fabiano Ravaglia (from the cast of CASACOR Rio de Janeiro). “Even in its original state, with well-defined projects, I was very impressed with the apartment, located above the tree tops, with large windows. We noted that there were running wooden boards under the badly deteriorated laminated floor that could be restored. In addition, the layout allowed making the kitchen, which was already large, even bigger, simply by eliminating the service rooms,” the professional recounts. With the keys in hand, the request to the architect was for a project that made the apartment look like a blank canvas, with open and clean spaces to accommodate his vast collection of art and signed Brazilian design furniture, with the dreamed external garden, distributed along the entire length of the living room window. Initially, the idea was to make only specific interventions, replacing the old finishes with new ones and updating the paint. But quickly, both the architect and the new owners realized the potential of the apartment, and the project gained substance, resulting in a more extensive and deeper renovation in all rooms. With the renovation, the service area was opened to the kitchen, and this was integrated with the intimate living room with TV, separated only by a large cooking peninsula, which also serves as support for quick meals and informal meetings. In addition, the two service rooms were integrated to create the laundry and pantry. In the intimate area, the first bedroom was preserved in its original state, the second bedroom was reduced and transformed into an office, and the third bedroom was incorporated into the couple's suite, making room for an open closet. All bathrooms underwent a complete renovation, including the removal of gas heaters and bathtubs, without altering the original masonry. The concept of the project thus derived from the residents' art collection – composed of more than 100 works by modernist artists and contemporary artists and photographers who transit in pop culture (such as Marcelo Solá, Terry Richardson, Burle Marx, Otto Stupakoff, Andy Warhol, Barsotti, Ivan Serpa, Djanira, Miguel Rio Branco, Volpi, Nelson Leirner, Di Cavalcanti, Ianelli, Eduardo Sued, Tomie Ohtake, Ângelo Venosa, Jeff Koons, Vik Muniz, Rubens Gerchman, Maritza Caneca, among others) – and the couple's desire to live in an apartment with an art gallery atmosphere. The project also aimed to print in the interiors the modernist atmosphere of the 1960s, with architectural elements of pure lines and minimalist aesthetics, as exemplified by the bathrooms with monochromatic ceramics, the reference to granilite in the kitchen and service area floor, the darker wood carpentries with parts in muxarabi, the white walls and the wooden floor with running boards. "We updated the modernist concept by adding more textures to the materials, especially fabrics, ceramics, stones, and woods, to bring warmth and coziness," says the architect. The entrance hall was designed to impact upon arrival, with walls and doors covered with MDF carpentry panels in walnut pattern, a floor made of reclaimed wood from the old service rooms (which were removed during the renovation) and ceiling covered with stretched fabric, which distributes light evenly, softly. Inside the apartment, most of the modernist furniture was brought from the previous residence, highlighting the Mole armchair, the Diz armchair, and the Mocho stool (by Sergio Rodrigues), the Tense dining table (by Italian Piergiorgio Cazzaniga), LC7 chairs (by Charlotte Perriand), Wish Bone chairs (by Hans Wegner), and the La Chaise armchair (by Ray and Charles Eames). Among the new acquisitions, it is worth mentioning the Brandon island sofa (by LZ Studio), the Pétala coffee table (by Jorge Zalszupin), the Disforme coffee table (by Estudiobola), the Toti stools (by Bernardo Figueiredo), the Teca tea cart and the Phillips stool (by Jader Almeida) and the tile cube table by Athos Bulcão. To match the darker wood present in the running board floor of the social area and the parquet in the intimate area, the architect chose black walnut MDF for the carpentry in the living room and bedrooms. As the residents dreamed of having a black and minimalist kitchen, the space received brushed black granite countertops, cabinets in ebonized wood pattern MDF, and porcelain flooring in gray tones that resemble granilite. Except for the intimate living room wall with TV, covered with a wood-style MDF panel mimicking the door leading to the bedrooms, all walls were painted white to highlight the works of art. "In the washroom, the floor and countertop are made of black granite, the metals have an all-black finish, and the walls and ceiling were painted dark gray to follow the kitchen's aesthetic, as they are adjacent rooms," explains the architect. “Our biggest challenge in this project was modeling in 3D more than a hundred works of art and signed furniture that are part of the clients' collection and simulating the presence of all these pieces in the project so that everything was harmonious,” concludes architect Fabiano Ravaglia from FPR Studio.