Owner of a 40 m² apartment in Ipanema (RJ), a young businessman hired architects Diego Raposo and Manuela Simas , from the Diego Raposo + Arquitetos office, to transform his bedroom and living room into a residential loft. “The client wanted a large, integrated space, with the feel of a hotel room , as well as a calm, relaxing atmosphere,” recalls Raposo. The first step was to knock down the walls that separated the living room from the bedroom . Since the bathroom had no natural light, the wall facing the living room was also eliminated and replaced with glass panels, which go from floor to ceiling. According to the architects, the goal of the new plan was to create a fluid layout that would allow residents to reorganize the space according to how it was used. To reinforce the feeling of “fluidity,” they designed the main joinery along the walls of the loft (such as the wardrobe behind the bed, the L-shaped kitchen cabinets, and the low slatted bench), leaving the double bed as a prominent element more in the center of the space, which helped to divide the functions of the rooms.

“The low slatted bench that extends across the entire wall where the two windows are located also functions as a sideboard to support books and objects , and also has storage space underneath to store bed linen or shoes,” details Raposo. The idea behind the project was to create a minimalist loft , predominantly white , with occasional elements of natural wood and linen fabrics. In the decoration, some pieces that the client inherited from his family were used in the new project (such as the Wassily armchair by Marcel Breuer and a painting by Di Cavalcanti ) and guided the selection of new furniture. “We wanted all the furniture to speak to each other, considering the historical period in which it was created, its designs and finishes. From there, we invested, for example, in the Standard chair by Jean Prouvé and the Mocho bench by Sergio Rodrigues ,” explains Raposo. “In environments with limited space, we usually reduce the amount of furniture and invest in pieces with a lower design,” concludes architect Diego Raposo.