A bookshelf with over 1,500 books is the star of this 60 m² apartment

The bookshelf with over 1500 books arranged in 48 niches highlighted in the living room of this 60 m² apartment , in Leblon (South Zone of Rio de Janeiro), gives a clue to the profile of its resident: Dalton de Faria Lopes, 71 years old, is researcher in astrophysics at the National Observatory and specialist in high-mass stars, with postdoctoral studies in Rome. In addition to his extensive academic curriculum, he has been practicing karate for over 40 years (he is a 7th Dan black belt) and has another passion for yoga. . Signed by architect Adriana Esteves , the total renovation project with new decoration of the apartment where Dalton has lived since 1995 holds another curiosity: they were together for eight years and since last year (2021) they have become good friends.

“When I met Dalton at karate in 2013, the apartment only had a bed, a desk and a table in the kitchen, as well as lots of books, of course, including in the kitchen. I literally let the house fall apart to convince him to do some renovations, but he she only agreed when she felt the need to have more space to store the new books that had been appearing over the years”, says the architect. “He also asked me for tiled floors, everything white and very little furniture because he needs free space to practice karate at home,” she adds. The work was completed in three months (between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020), but the decoration was done little by little. The architect also says that, because it was very old, the apartment had a very compartmentalized layout, with very tight rooms. In just 60 m² there was a living room, two bedrooms , a bathroom, a toilet, a kitchen, a service area and maid's quarters. She knocked down everything and redesigned the floor plan, which now has just one bedroom, a large living room, a kitchen with an integrated service area and a bathroom with an open washbasin counter, separate from the area with the shower and toilet, which is closed.