The change of address of the advertising executive who lived in Rio de Janeiro came with an extra challenge: adapting to life in the capital of São Paulo in a
studio apartment of just 25 m² . The location – in the trendy Itaim Bibi neighborhood – was already ideal, so it was up to architect
Carolina Gava to create a youthful, practical and functionally focused project for this new phase of his life.
The sliding door that separated the balcony was knocked down and the entire social area was integrated – during the renovation,
the balcony was closed with glass, creating a single, wider, fluid, light and modern space, divided into a bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen, leaving only the bathroom separate. “A good part of the balcony was occupied by the air conditioning technical area. With the integration, I designed a single carpentry with a central niche for the refrigerator, general-purpose cabinets and a built-in niche for the air conditioning condenser, in contact with the external area’s vent,” says the architect.
Because the apartment was designed to meet a specific stage of life, the architect avoided spending too much on construction work, making the most of the existing elements.
In the decoration, she opted for a neutral base and painted the entrance wall green, thus creating a point of color with great visual impact and low cost. “The size of the apartment limited our choice of furniture, as we needed compact and comfortable items. Among the options on the market, we prioritized functional and durable pieces, with a good cost-benefit ratio and minimalist aesthetic characteristics,” says Carolina.
According to the architect, one of the highlights of the project is, without a doubt, the
rotating TV panel , which has become the heart of the studio. In addition to allowing residents to watch TV from any point in the apartment, this solution also helped to divide the spaces without creating a large visual barrier, leaving the view unobstructed.
The color palette included graphite, green, raw and wood . The floor was covered with large format light gray porcelain tiles (York SGR model, by Portinari) and the cabinets were made with MDF in the Freijó and Graphite patterns.
