Architect Eugenio Laponte, Creative Director of the design studio EUTOPIARCH, has breathed new life into a 90 square metre Milanese flat in a large residential complex dating from the mid-1970s.
It originally presented the typical characteristics of the time such as, for example, a not very flexible space layout: an entrance cubicle opened onto a dining and living area on one side and a corridor connecting all the rooms on the other; the doors were framed in dark brown wood, a colour that characterised many elements of the flat in a typical 1970s vague.
All the perimeter walls had numerous rectangular windows, at least two per room, framed by white metal elements that concealed the shutter system and fan coils.
To respond to the family necessities, all internal divisions were demolished, keeping from the original layout the clear division between day and night time areas only.
The daytime space appears now completely open yet the main three activities – cooking, dining, and living – find their own devoted corners thanks to a smart use of bespoke pieces of furniture.
A blue and gold bathroom serves this side of the flat.
In the night time area a gold and green Fornasetti wallpaper gives a strong and playful touch of color in the overall white corridor: behind it the most intimate rooms are hidden like a secret garden enclosed by a wild hedge.
The general design approach was meant to provide a new more welcoming and fluid house, with a very milanese take on the general programmatic layout and where both homey and graphic elements would contrast and cohabit at the same time, just like the different souls of the modern family.
For further information please visit www.eutopiarch.eu.
CREDITS
Project: Ca’ Urbana
Studio: EUTOPIARCH
Location: Milan
Construction company: MBA costruzioni
Photo: Lorenzo Piovella photography
