Location: São Paulo, Brasil Year: 2025 Architects: Luiz Solano Photography by: Camila Alba
The apartment is located on the top floor of the Araucária Building, constructed between 1964 and 1969 by Rino Levi. The original layout divided the apartment into three zones: the bedrooms, arranged linearly and separated by wardrobes; the living room and kitchen; and an appendix where the service area is located.
The project for Apartment I uses the original floor plan division as its starting point. All internal masonry walls are demolished, and the zones are defined by wardrobes. Two lines divide the zones and organize the apartment's layout. These lines are perpendicular and intersect at the transition between the living room and the office.
The first line includes the kitchen counter, the entrance door, the planter box, the building's ventilation shaft, the guest bathroom, and the wardrobe that separates the bedroom from the office. The second line consists of the wardrobe that divides the living room from the office, running across the entire apartment and also separating the bedroom from the bathroom.
The central module houses the living room and kitchen, forming a 9 x 9-meter square. One of its sides, facing north, features a floor-to-ceiling window and a concrete brise-soleil on the building's façade. This space contains only a few elements that facilitate its use: a planter box, situated where an inverted beam from one of the demolished bathrooms once existed; a stainless steel cylinder that replaces the original fireplace; and a kitchen island, also made of stainless steel.
The bedroom module accommodates the office and a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom. It is accompanied end-to-end by the wardrobe that separates it from the living room. Between the office and the bedroom, there is a wardrobe that opens on both sides. This wardrobe can eventually be replicated to create an additional bedroom in the upper half of the office, where there is another access door. Text description by the architects.
