Territorio de Arquitectura, owned by architect Jesús Huarte, was tasked with renovating a 30 square meter apartment located in the residential neighborhood of Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The client, a sensory artist who uses different smells to create her pieces, desired a space in a central area of the city where she could live and work. However, the apartment lacked natural light, with the balcony windows being the main source of light.
In order to achieve this, Huarte used glass panels as walls to allow natural light to flow through all the rooms. Metal and glass walls were used to divide the kitchen, dining, and bedrooms while still letting in light, which encouraged interaction between the kitchen and dining areas.
The kitchen is compact but not cramped. The countertop and splashbacks are made from light green marble. An island has been placed on the other side and doubles as a bar with stools, and there is also space for a washer/dryer machine. Two pink lights hang over the island to light the surface and as an ambient room light in the evenings.
A storage wall has been placed along one side of the apartment to hide clutter, and a white metal and glass wall separated the kitchen space and dining area. The dining area has been kept minimal with a round white table and white chairs, with a pendant light above to provide ambience in the evenings.
Instead of a large sofa, a foldable mat that can transform to a floor seat or lie flat when guests are over has been included. A wooden and leather swing provides further seating while doubling as a playful element in the apartment. It can be moved quickly when the space is needed for other (less fun) activities.
The bedroom features a double-sized bed and a built-in closet, all in white. The metal and glass wall separate the dining area and bedroom, with a door for privacy when needed. The bedroom opens up to a small balcony that looks out onto the neighborhood.
We used a playful combination of shapes and colors, like circles, pinks and greens. The vanity is a Light wood and the counter and splashback is a soft green marble.’
When the balcony and bedroom doors are open, air circulates throughout the apartment.
Huarte’s philosophy is to find creative ways to renovate and recreate spaces using preexisting space, the owner’s desires, and his own transformation ideas with useful, flexible, and comprehensive solutions.
We must live in the century of caring and in this context, creativity can be called the “science of survival”, we must prepare for the search for innovative, useful, flexible and comprehensive solutions.’
Images by NeverTooSmall
