00:01The design idea for this apartment was to play with height, colors, light and materials.
00:12I grew up between the city and the countryside and one of my favorite books was The Baron in the
00:17Trees by Italo Calvino.
00:19I would spend weekends up in a huge fig tree with my comics, music and everything I needed to make
00:25it through the day.
00:27When thinking about how to design my house, I wanted to bring back that feeling.
00:33My philosophy when designing small spaces is to try to optimize the space without taking out all the fun and
00:39quirky details.
00:49The apartment is located in the Rastro neighborhood of Madrid in Spain.
00:54The area feels like it's frozen in time.
00:58Neighbors are friendly and there's a strong sense of community.
01:02Most of the neighborhood is pedestrian and in summer people put down tables in the street to chill and chat
01:07during the hot evenings.
01:13The building was built in the 1940s, which is actually quite new for the area.
01:17It was likely built for out of town workers who moved in to get a job in the industrialized 40s
01:23and 50s.
01:26The building has three floors.
01:29I live in the apartment on the top floor of the building.
01:34The apartment was originally 29 square meters.
01:37It had relatively low gypsum false ceilings and it felt very cramped.
01:42The first thing I did after getting the keys was to peek through the false ceiling and see how much
01:46extra space I had available.
01:49To my relief, there was enough space for a loft.
01:53When looking for architectural inspiration, I was drawn to Kube House by Terje Moe in Oslo.
01:59He promoted the use of height and the idea of self-building, which is what I tried to do in
02:03my own apartment.
02:07I have built everything that I was able to do so myself through learning about different techniques.
02:14And just like Kube House, I enjoy my apartment to be an ongoing work in progress.
02:21There was a small bathroom by the entrance, a kitchen in the hallway, a small bedroom, a living room and
02:26a tiny balcony.
02:27I removed the false ceiling to create a loft area for the new bedroom.
02:31The walls of the old kitchen and bedroom were also removed.
02:34This created an open kitchen, dining and living space.
02:38The kitchen was moved to a spot where it can receive more natural light.
02:42I then added stairs to access the loft space.
02:45The loft also includes a gangway with a study desk and a cozy nook for the bedroom.
02:50The bathroom remained in the same location.
02:58When entering the apartment, there's a short hallway.
03:01On one side, the walls are exposed bricks painted in white.
03:04On the other is a wall of red plywood that hides the entrance to the bathroom.
03:09I covered the original tiled floors with a white epoxy resin so that it could reflect the natural light coming
03:16from the skylight above.
03:20At the end of the hallway, the apartment opens to a combined kitchen, dining and living area.
03:26The ceilings here are a lot higher, which helps make the space appear even larger.
03:34The kitchen was designed to be flexible and work around whatever activity that is required.
03:40The art wall in the kitchen is made from pieces that are mostly made by my friends or young local
03:45artists.
03:48For this kitchen, I decided not to have an inbuilt cooktop, but instead use a portable electric one when needed.
03:54I just take out the appliances I need and pack them away when not in use.
03:59This frees up counter space and also helps to keep it clean and spacious.
04:04I hid the split system air conditioner behind a perforated plywood box with holes to let the cool air out.
04:13The table is quite large for a small apartment, but I prefer to prioritize space for a large table rather
04:20than a large sofa.
04:22This large table works as the epicenter of the space, making it a comfortable surface to eat with friends, work
04:28and unpack groceries on.
04:31When I was traveling in Hong Kong, I found a red lampshade and is now used as the pendant light
04:36in the kitchen.
04:41The living room is at the end of the space.
04:44I found a large secondhand rug that really suits the apartment. It goes all the way to the dining area.
04:52The sofa can turn into a guest bed for where my family visits.
04:57I made a custom wall shelf out of steel to display photographs of my past projects.
05:03The living room features a TMC lamp and a yellow wall fan, which I co-designed and produced.
05:08We named it the Flexofan.
05:15From the living area, there's a small balcony with great views of the surrounding neighborhood.
05:21It's too small to really use it, but its main job is to let in a lot of light and
05:25fresh air.
05:28I filled it up with plants to give more privacy and to create a microclimate of my own.
05:34On the other side of the living room, there is a custom cabinet made from the same plywood as the
05:39entrance wall and the kitchen.
05:43It is a versatile piece of furniture which doubles as the first few steps of the stairs.
05:47It also provides the main storage for the living area.
05:52Connecting the lower level to the loft, I made a steel staircase painted in dark green.
06:00At the top of the stairs, there's a quiet gangway.
06:05There's just enough space for a slim desk where I work sometimes and a bookshelf that I welded together myself.
06:14The table is made from orange pexiglass and lets the warm light through to create interesting shadows.
06:20It is also retroilluminated with an LED strip, so it also serves as a lamp at night.
06:29The gangway makes the skylight accessible, so when open, it helps circulate fresh air into the apartment.
06:38I have always enjoyed what I call bathtub spaces.
06:41These are parts of the home that you use every once in a while and take up space, but when
06:46you do use them, they make you very happy.
06:52The bedroom is positioned in the corner of the loft, just above the entrance.
06:56I wanted it to feel like a resting space upon the trees.
07:02It is very simple, with an automated skylight that brings in warm natural light during the day and a view
07:07of the moon and stars at night.
07:11There is storage underneath the bed for blankets and off-season clothing.
07:16A platform space at the end of the bedroom is raised up slightly.
07:20It's a nice spot to display more art and a cozy place to sit and read.
07:28The bathroom is by the entrance and I view it as a world of its own.
07:32I used green and white tiles to continue the treehouse theme.
07:37The bathroom sink was cut from a whole slab of marble from Macael, a famous marble-producing town in Spain.
07:46The window, the frameless shower glass and the large mirror help to make the small bathroom appear less cramped.
07:55When you design a small space, you try that all the objects you design have a double use.
08:03If you have a cabinet, it can be a staircase as well. If you have a sofa, it can be
08:08a bed.
08:08So the idea and the fun of it is to try to find two or three uses for the same
08:12element.
08:14In Spain, we have so many buildings that need to be renovated and the city centers are becoming more expensive.
08:20It's a matter of necessity that, as architects, you really revitalize these spaces to be able to live in them.
08:38And it's everyone wanting to figure out how your screen's 나�indic northern mud is often crowded and the floor.
08:42Many buildings often do not have been able to live in other places with the entire city houses that are
08:42brought around the city houses,
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