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Studiolo is the home of architect Eduardo Mediero. Sourced from unexpected places, its rubber floors, steel ceilings, and industrial fittings show how materials beyond typical home finishes can shape new ways of living.
“It is a domestic space that emerges from reality and operates on the border with fiction.”
“It’s important to test these materials in a domestic environment because it shows their potential beyond their industrial uses.”
“For me, the room is the foundation of my practice, a vessel for daily life, and a testing ground for new ways of inhabiting space.”
Architect Eduardo Mediero describes his work as “an exploration,” a probe into the possibilities that the materials from other industries have in “producing new domestic realities.” One such new reality is Studiolo – a 50sqm/538sqft Madrid apartment where he lives with his partner. Named after Renaissance rooms of retreat and reflection, Studiolo is a fitting title, as Mediero has long explored the concept of the room. To him, the room is the most immediate expression of architecture – the part we feel most directly. He sees it as both practical and philosophical: the foundation of his practice, a vessel for daily life, and a testing ground for new ways of inhabiting space.
Studiolo is no exception. Experimentation and play shape the home. Rubber flooring usually intended for a mechanic’s workshop, lighting from the farming industry, and a stainless steel sink from a sports facilities manufacturer – to name a few – create a flexible backdrop for dinner parties, events, photo shoots, and everyday living.
The apartment wasn’t always this way. On the fifth storey of a 1970s building, it was once divided into two rooms by a bulky cabinet. Two small triangular balconies offered little usable space, and the layout felt dark and cramped. Mediero rethought the configuration, switching the living and sleeping areas to create a larger open zone and a smaller, more intimate bedroom. By reclaiming the balconies, he expanded the interior footprint.
Mediero introduced two large MDF units to delineate the space. The first is a deep green structure that integrates storage and the sleeping area, raised on a platform. Mediero describes the space as “almost monastic” in quality. Pared back and retreat-like, the bedroom contrasts with the open living area, where industrial finishes and visual interest abound. The second, separates the kitchen from the bedroom, concealing one from the other. Built from green-tinted MDF that is fireproof and waterproof, it stops short of the ceiling to let natural light filter into the space.
Mediero has shaped a home that acts as a canvas, though it is far from blank. He sees alternative materials as essential to this process, noting that they are “quite affordable and utilitarian, as well as innovative and surprisingly beautiful.” In Studiolo, this curiosity shows in the soft Pirelli rubber floors, the galvanised steel ceiling panels (more often seen in offices), and the stainless steel that defines both kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen unit was sourced from an industrial manufacturer, while the bathroom sink, operated by a foot pedal, adds an unexpected touch of play. “It makes washing our hands a little more exciting,” he notes with a grin.
Industrial finishes set the stage for a collection that balances the contemporary and the iconic. A Vitra Anagram Sofa anchors the living area, its clip-on sides shifting to suit the moment, while an Eames walnut stool brings a thread of design history into the mix. Around the marble-topped dining table, Artek stools tuck neatly away when not in use, ready to be pulled out for dinners with friends. Across the apartment, artworks and objects – from Agnes Denes’ 1970s design manifesto to pieces by young designers – layer in a sense of personality and exploration.
Compact though it may be, Studiolo embodies Mediero’s wider philosophy: that architecture begins with the room and is enriched by materials drawn from unexpected places. Yet it is not only an intellectual experiment, but also a functioning home, animated by social gatherings and creative projects. Here, retreat and experiment coexist.
