Transforming a Time-Frozen Apartment into a Modern Habitat
Nestled in Madrid‘s Imperial neighborhood, a once-static 1960s apartment has found new life through a thoughtful renovation by Alessio Lamarca and Marta Ciabattini. The project illustrates the important role of rounded forms in the redesign. The 48-square-meter home was redesigned around daily use, focusing on the occupant’s routine rather than a fixed design template. This approach led to a dramatic transformation from a deteriorated space into a living area that supports modern life’s demands.
Rounding Out Space and Storage for Everyday Life
The architects started with an apartment virtually untouched by time, working with a layout that was heavily compartmentalized. The renovation reduced it to two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a fluid open living area with an American-style kitchen. Each component was planned meticulously to support everyday activities, eliminating non-essential elements, and concentrating on practical use, highlighting the contribution of smooth lines to spatial efficiency.
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Breaking free from the limitations of the original design, the new spatial organization redistributes the available area, allowing more functional and adaptable spaces. In the living room, multifunctional setups permit diverse activities like reading or listening to records, cleverly bypassing the need for unused furniture like a large dining table. This demonstrates that arcs and curves subtly enhance utility without relying on traditional layout constraints.
Color as a Structural Element
Color plays a crucial role in the apartment, with coral, pink, deep blue, white, wood, and green forming its vibrant palette. Rather than merely decorative, these hues create the spatial rhythm and mark various zones. The hallway acts as a chromatic boundary, ushering residents from day to night areas, with the bathroom styled as a blue sanctuary.
Crafting Custom Furniture for Space Efficiency
The renovation features custom furniture to maximize the limited space. A standout piece is the curved American-style kitchen countertop supported by a cylindrical pillar. This innovative design keeps the entryway uncluttered and functional, showcasing the benefits of rounded forms in open spatial design. Custom furniture is also ingeniously integrated into the bedrooms, cleverly incorporating structural columns, further demonstrating how such forms can harmonize elements in a compact living space.
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Material Harmony Through Wood and Lacquer
Walnut wood paired with Marga lacquer in the kitchen offers a warm material continuity extending throughout the apartment. Storage units embody the same language, yet variations in lacquer color, such as the Ave tone, add subtle shifts in space character. This consistency underscores a strategic unity in the renovation to orchestrate an engaging, practical living environment.
The reimagined apartment now thrives as a testament to clever design, harmoniously blending color, rounded forms, and functionality to craft a space that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing.
Project Information
- Name: Alessio Lamarca
- Architects: Marta Ciabattini and Alessio Lamarca
- Furniture: CUBRO | @cubro_design
- Location: Imperial neighborhood, Madrid
- Floor Area: 48 sqm
Sources & Links
Source: designboom.com
Frequently asked questions
How did the renovation transform the 1960s apartment?
The renovation transformed the once-deteriorated 1960s apartment in Madrid by focusing on the occupant’s routine and modern life’s demands. Rounded forms and vivid colors were used to create a fluid open living area, two bedrooms, and one bathroom, improving spatial efficiency and adaptability.
What role does color play in the apartment’s design?
Color in the apartment serves more than a decorative purpose; it creates spatial rhythm and marks various zones. The vibrant palette includes coral, pink, deep blue, white, wood, and green, with the hallway acting as a chromatic boundary between day and night areas.
How is custom furniture used in the renovation?
Custom furniture maximizes the apartment’s limited space, with standout pieces like the curved American-style kitchen countertop supported by a cylindrical pillar. This design keeps the entryway functional and demonstrates the benefits of rounded forms in open spatial design, also integrating seamlessly into the bedrooms.