Category Archives: wonderful spaces.

happy weekend.

a modernist in miniature.

What I like about this tiny, 40m2 Parisian apartment is that it is clean and contemporary and full of mid-century pieces but lacks any of the austerity that often comes with mid-century interiors. Bits of the original interior are evident – the timber floors, of course, and a deep door reveal that has been stripped of years of paint. In the kitchen the remnants of a doorway remain, given new life as a mirror frame, and corners of brickwork have been left exposed here and there. The changes of level and undulant cupboard depths all add to a feeling of space that belies the diminutive floor area. Materials and finishes are kept simple, with pattern and texture ensuring the overall feeling is relaxed and unpretentious.

40m2 apartment renovation by Charlotte Vauvillier via Plastolux

In the midst of my own home renovation, and thoroughly enjoying being able to choose my own finishes after years of doing it for other people… the only problem is, too much choice! I’m hoping to take photographs before and after and post them, if you would like to see.. Happy weekend.

where architects live.

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As a voyeur of interiors, I love peering into other people’s homes. There is a departure between architecture and interior design and architects often don’t involve themselves with interiors, leaving the design to somebody else. An interesting thing then, to see architects’ own homes. An exhibition in April called Where Architects Live looks at the private homes of eight world-renowned architects.

Of those on preview, one of my favourites is the Paris home of Massimiliano Fuksas, an Italian architect known for his work in urban problems and the suburbs, as well as his ‘big’ architecture, Shenzhen airport, for example. A fabulous mix of materials old and new, original Jean Prouvé furniture, and masses of artwork, it feels at once calm yet vibrant. The home of David Chipperfield, as would be expected, is a more restrained affair – a concrete building in Berlin with simple, minimal space and one or two deep colours like the forest green sofa. Zaha Hadid’s home is unsurprisingly white, with lots of her own avant garde and Russian revolution-era inspired artwork and furniture. Mario Bellini’s home is bold, angular and dark-hued. I can’t wait to see more in April.

Photographs 1 + 2, Fuksas home, Aki Furudate

Photograph of Chipperfield home, Davide Pizzigoni

Photograph of Zaha Hadid home, Davide Pizzigoni

Photograph of Mario Bellini home, Davide Pizzigoni

Photograph of Daniel Libeskind home, Nicola Tranquillino

Where Architects Live, Salone del Mobile, Milan 8-13th April 2014 via

slip house.

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An apt successor to the concrete-and-pink gallery house of my previous post, Slip House comprises ‘a simple, sculptural form of three cantilevered boxes (or slipped) boxes’. The shifting planes break up the bulk of the building, adding to this sculptural quality. Largely constructed from glass, steel and concrete, these raw materials are evident inside and out. This is architecture in its raw form, designed by an architect as his own home. It was also an RIBA award winner – best house in the UK for 2013. It is also nobly eco friendly, sustainable and energy efficient with triple glazing, solar panels and wildflower roofs all contributing to its performance.

The house is arranged over three floors with a large roof garden on top. Full-height glazing at either end together with an open plan layout (the perimeter walls carry the load) allow the light into the centre; necessary in an infill site with neighbouring terraces in close proximity. It has the requisite architectural details – shadow gap at the junctions between vertical and horizontal surfaces, and where elements of different materials conjoin. It is minimal in its use of materials and finishes, with an utterly retrained palette.

Could you live here? It’s marvellously accomplished, but personally I find the purity a little relentless. I’m also not keen on the pinkish hue of the birch plywood, seen on much of the bespoke joinery, as it sits alongside the dull grey of the exposed concrete. I’d have to add some disharmony – lots of textures, some colour.

Slip House by Carl Turner Architects for sale, here. Photography: Tim Crocker

gallery house in concrete and pink.

eclectic in milan.

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This 1920s Milanese apartment is an eclectic mix of late Art Nouveau with nineteenth-century embellishment; and colourful, contemporary furniture mixed with neo-Gothic inspired, monochromatic artwork.

Beautiful, highly polished Palladian marble floors with touches of blue inform much of the interior’s colour palette, with palest blue walls and a curvaceous, powder blue velvet sofa. Furniture is sophisticated, elegant: blown glass and brass Bell Tables, an iron, wood and brass screen, Gio Ponti‘s Superleggera chair, a delicate, oval dining table of marble, wood and metal. The ornately carved, wood-lined bay window adds another level of sophistication and a connection with the outside.

It is an interior that is infused with personality. I find the vivid, cerulean blue master bedroom, with its Vertigo pendant light quite beguiling. What about you?

More Casa Russo, here (via) Photography by Filippo Bamberghi

More wonderful spaces, here

a parisian modernist in blue.

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The February 2014 issue of the always fabulous World of Interiors features this apartment, designed by antiques dealer Florence Lopez for Charlotte Gainsborough and her artist husband.

It’s another Parisian apartment (I’ve featured so many recently that I’m thinking of a name change to owl’s house paris..); the difference this time is that the 19th-century decoration has been stripped back in its entirety, leaving a blank canvas as the starting point.

Lopez has a very particular 20th-century aesthetic. The inspiration for this interior comes from Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, which explains the ‘graphic rigour’ within. The parquet floors have been painted black throughout, which create cohesion with the dark slate terrace outside. Walls are painted matt in chalk-white or various shades of blue. Blue prevails, also as an upholstery colour – armchairs in the entrance area are covered in four different shades of deep blue, for example. Otherwise, black, white and the odd shot of vivid yellow provide the contrast. A sleek, wall-hung granite washbasin and copper and brass accessories add an element of luxe.

Furniture includes a daybed by Jean Prouve, pieces by Josef Frank, Alvar Aalto and Robin Day.

It’s quite a rigorous, purist approach, stripping back all signs of classical detail and extraneous elements, but I think it’s hugely successful. What do you prefer, classical elements or clean modern lines?

20th Century Fox, World of Interiors, February 2014. Scans by owl’s house london.

More wonderful spaces, here

corners.

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I love these images taken by Paul Raeside, capturing glimpses of beautifully styled corners in this pared-back Parisian interior. Off-white and shades of grey provide the back-drop to the wonderfully light interior; window treatments are simple lengths of sheer (very on-trend for 2014, says the Wall Street Journal). It is the objects and their placement that provide the detail and texture.

More of this pared-back Parisian interior, here

simple luxe in stockholm.

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A white background and warm parquet floors set the scene. Rich, saturated colours are then added, such as the darkest burgundy used unusually on the ceiling, and the deep green cupboards that are a perfect foil for the beautifully detailed, mirror-finish brass island unit. Other metallic touches – the gleaming stainless range hood, bronze tap and fabulous sputnik chandelier add luxury to the otherwise minimally decorated spaces.

Simple, structural furniture and feature light fittings such as the iconic Artichoke light (more, here) adorn the rooms which have been pared back to reveal beautiful classic details. Simple, luxurious.

A private residence in Stockholm, designed by sandell sandberg arkitekter AB, via. Photos: Pia Ulin

More wonderful spaces, here

behomm.

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I love this idea. A home exchange – you travel and stay in someone else’s house for free and they come and stay in yours – specifically for designers and visual artists. Behomm, which simply means to stay at home, is an invitation-only home exchange site for people with a love of aesthetics and travel. It’s not about luxury and wealth; rather, because of the like-mindedness of the home owners, the homes are going to be at the least, considered and aesthetically interesting, and at most, beautiful. ‘It’s about sharing and making personal connections – a prime example of the enriching ‘shared economy’ movement growing across the globe…’ And a wonderful aside – Behomm donates 5% of their proceeds to Architecture for Humanity, a charitable organisation that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises.