Marcello Bondavalli, Nicola Brenna and Carlo Alberto Tagliabue are the young founders of studio wok, which since 2012 has been pursuing its vision of architecture and design as tools for improving the quality of living, while always supporting environmental sustainability.
Material volumes and suspended rooms are the protagonists of the renovation project for a 225 square metre flat in a historic early 20th century building in the Porta Venezia area of Milan, a building which still retains its distinctive features belonging to Milan’s art nouveau period and whose decor features wrought iron elements made by the famous artist and blacksmith, Mazzucotelli.
The new design by studio wok makes intelligent use of the structure’s internal volumes, exploiting the house’s generous heights and playing with suspended spaces. Each room has a mezzanine floor which is not only a way of providing more living space, but also a way of increasing the number of points of view from which to observe and enjoy the large spaces of the home now inhabited by a young family.
The division of the rooms is defined by pure, simple forms, different material monoliths. Natural materials such as stone and wood are used for these elements. Long corridors, given the particular shape of the flat, characterise the different areas of the house. In these connecting spaces, simple, evocative forms and suspended volumes enrich the perception of space, playing with light or with the expansion and compression of heights.
In the master bedroom, a wall of wardrobes conceals a staircase leading to the mezzanine which houses a walk-in wardrobe and a small workspace. A sliding door divides the entrance area into a second walk-in wardrobe. The bedroom leads to the private bathroom, where the shower is a hollowed-out monolith of terrazzo and houses a seat.
A second bathroom, designed for guests, features Guatemalan green marble floor and wall tiles in connection with the wood of the floor and bathroom cabinet.
Info studiowok.com
PROJECT Appartamento in Porta Venezia
ARCHITECT studio wok
LOCATION Milano
YEAR 2019
PHOTO Federico Villa
