In the center of Florence in Italy, a studio flat without walls

The ideas of the owner of this renovated apartment in the center of Florence were quite clear right from the start of the works.

Located precisely between the Convent of San Marco and the Gherardesca Garden of the Italian city known throughout the world for its artistic and cultural wealth, it represented for her an escape route from the life she had led until then. Which is why there would have been no room for dissatisfaction.

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Furthermore, working in the fashion industry, the client lived in Asia for many years and with the decision to buy an apartment in Italy, she chose to also want to find a new lightness.

And precisely the latter was the watchword identified by the architect Michelangelo Brugnano with his studio MBA Studio, to work on redefining the characteristics of a small studio apartment which from now on the owner will call 'home'.

A studio flat in the name of grace

In its original state, in reality, the apartment appeared to have already been renovated, but did not reflect the stylistic expectations of the current property. The building in which the studio apartment is located, in fact, had recently undergone a total renovation following a change of use of the entire building, which houses around 55 apartments.

The company that carried out this work prepared a plan of turnkey solutions (finishes and internal distribution, among other things) which were not satisfactory for the client, and which the architect Brugnano took on with the aim of making it a bright space, light, in the name of grace.

Cubic effect

To respond to the request, the architect started with the re-design of the space, with the aim of obtaining a broader perception of the rooms which - as a whole - measure an area of only 50 m2. The goal was to make the most of the cubic volume available, also working with a scheme that had symmetries and clean shapes.

An 'open solution was opted for where the plant, with a rectangular imprint, was divided into three communicating sectors: living area, sleeping area and service area. And everything was inspired by the perfect shape of the cube: a strategy that contributed, also thanks to the materials identified, to making the apartment hyper-minimalist and with a 'blank canvas' effect, which would also contribute at a later stage to enhancing the pieces of furniture with deep emotional significance for the tenants, then placed according to the property's preference.

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Custom-made furnishings

To achieve this goal, Brugnano thought about a set of fixed furnishings to be placed in the functional points of the studio flat. The pieces, which were custom-designed for the project, include three elements in Carrara marble such as the kitchen block, the toilet top and the TV top.

The choice of finishes was weighted on three elements: the white base, the solid Panga Panga parquet and the Carrara marble, while the oriental contaminations emerge for the furnishings and the 'accessories' stained with touches of gold.

A house without walls

Small logistical issues could have countered the aspired gracefulness for the apartment, such as the separation of spaces by function: bedroom and kitchen, otherwise, they would have been symbiotic.

To remedy the issue, a structure of 'invisible walls' in glass and metal was designed: fixed in the case of the central area and sliding in the case of the space dedicated to the toilet. In this way the natural light filtering through the openings to the outside would have met no limits and even the gaze, from different points of view, would have been satisfied by the sensation of continuity. - Veronica Lempi - Interni Magazine