00:04Many of the colors we use in the apartment are traditional civilian colors.
00:10These can be easily found on the streets around here.
00:13So a lot of inspiration for the apartment came from the cityscape itself.
00:20It used to be a very dark space before, like very limited by walls,
00:24and it was kind of claustrophobic somehow.
00:27And now it feels like very airy and very bright and it gives beautiful energy.
00:40The apartment is located in Triana, a historic district in Seville, Spain.
00:47Triana is known for being the place where flamenco originated from.
00:52Because of its traditional local vibe, with many small streets and the Guadalquipi River,
00:58the real estate in this area of Seville is in very high demand.
01:03My name is Antonio Mora.
01:04And my name is Eduardo TazĂłn.
01:07We are architects and co-founders of Studio Noyu, based in Madrid and Seville in Spain.
01:21We like to work with color as an architectural element.
01:25Each area is distinguished by its own zigzag colorful alcove.
01:30They're made from readily available and low cost aluminum roof ridges known as cumbreras in Spanish.
01:38The effect of the vibrant colors imparts a sense of greater spaciousness.
01:44My favorite part of the apartment is the theatricality of the blue curtain.
01:49It just makes it much more fun.
01:51So you're constantly changing the appearance of the apartment with a very kind of easy gesture.
01:57The client is a young dentist who is very organized and lives here with her pet rabbit Lennon.
02:05Casa Triana is located in a residential complex built in the 60s.
02:10Our client inherited this apartment from her grandparents after they passed away.
02:15The apartment originally had three small bedrooms along a narrow L-shaped corridor.
02:21There was a bathroom, a separate kitchen and a living room,
02:25and a narrow balcony that spans the entire length of the apartment.
02:28For the renovation, we removed almost all of the interior walls in the apartment.
02:33This allowed us to increase the size of the bedroom and add a walk-in closet.
02:37The bathroom was kept in its original place, but a second entrance was added so that it can be accessed
02:43from the bedroom.
02:44The living, dining and kitchen is now one large open plan with the main functions along the walls.
02:51The living room can be closed off using curtains to keep some privacy.
02:55It can also be used as a guest room.
03:02As you enter the apartment, the first thing you see are the blue curtains that hides the living room.
03:08The front door is the original door and we could not change the outside appearance due to the building rules.
03:14But we were able to add cladding to the inside to blend it in with the rest of the entrance.
03:22At the entrance, there is a small open closet where the client can store her bags, coats and shoes.
03:29We added a mirror to reflect the colors in the space.
03:39The living room is behind a blue floor-to-ceiling curtain.
03:43It shares the same open space as the kitchen and dining room.
03:47We chose the furniture in the living room together with the client.
03:51We wanted the color tone of the furniture to be neutral.
03:54A mirror-side table reflects the surrounding colors and creates a bit of an illusion.
04:00The only non-neutral item in the living room is the custom-made plinth in the alcove.
04:06It was designed to blend into the curtains.
04:13To zone the living room area, we design a custom-made carpet with grey to blue gradient.
04:19This carpet, together with a folding curtain, creates a visual sensation of a defined space.
04:27One curtain of the carpet has a rounded edge to match the curved rail of the curtains.
04:32The marble floor tiles are also original.
04:35It was actually added by her grandparents and she wanted to keep it to remind her of them.
04:43We added a metallic white ceiling light which has a ripple effect to remind us of the waves of the
04:49curtains.
04:52Just outside the living room, there is a custom-made six-axis shelving system
04:57that is not visible from the entrance to keep the area from looking cluttered.
05:05We maximized storage by adding cabinets throughout the wall along the window.
05:15The kitchen was relocated to a more hidden area, away from the entrance of the apartment.
05:20We pushed the baseboard back to give the kitchen some depth and make it appear like it's floating off the
05:26ground,
05:27making the kitchen feel lighter.
05:29The kitchen countertop is made from black granite to match with the black sink and appliances.
05:38There are two pantries on either side of the kitchen.
05:41One hides the fridge and all the small appliances,
05:45and the other hides the laundry room with a washer dryer.
05:49This allows us to have a kitchen that is always tidy and visually clean.
05:55The dining area is between the living room and the kitchen.
06:01We custom designed a yellow dining table with a slight curve on one end
06:06to mimic the same curve of the carpet and curtains in the living room.
06:09When the table is not in use, it can be pushed into the yellow niche to become a desk and
06:15create a study area.
06:16There is a hanging light in the niche to illuminate this space.
06:20When the dining table is moved to the center of the room, the light can also be rotated to illuminate
06:25the space.
06:29The dining room chairs are by Arne Jakobsen for Fritz Hansen,
06:34and we chose black to add contrast to the yellow niche.
06:41Beside the yellow niche, we added a large floor-to-ceiling closet with lots of room for clothes and other
06:47household items.
06:48We also added a smaller clothes storage under the windows.
06:55For the private areas of the apartment, such as the bedroom and bathroom,
06:59we chose to use neutral tones, such as charcoal and pale white.
07:06Instead of a door, the walk-in closet can be hidden using curtains.
07:11This helps to tighten it in with the alcoves in the rest of the apartment.
07:16This vibrant yellow color conveys energy and liveliness in the mornings and was actually chosen by the client.
07:24It is a very generous space and provides hangers and shelving for clothes and personal items.
07:32We custom-made an upholstered headboard with integrated reading lamps and beside tables.
07:39The sides of the headboard angles in towards the bed to make you feel cozy.
07:45The angle also provides a bit of a division to the bathroom entrance.
07:52For the bathroom, a charcoal gray tone was chosen for the sink area.
07:58To continue the zigzag theme of the apartment, we found a dark triangular ceramic tile for the area around the
08:05sink of the bathroom.
08:07Due to the zigzag nature of the tiles, the mirror looks like it's floating in mid-air.
08:12The rest of the bathroom is white.
08:14The client preferred to have a more functional and spacious bathroom.
08:18So we removed the bathtub and replaced it with a large shower.
08:21This freed up space to add a second entrance from the bedroom.
08:26We added building storage opposite the sink and a niche behind the sliding door with just enough space to hang
08:34bath towels.
08:38The blue curtain creates a pop-up guest bedroom whenever there is someone staying over.
08:45So this allows for flexibility to use the living room also as a separate bedroom.
08:53There's a very strong sense of community in the city center of Seville, which is something that you lose when
09:00you're going towards the suburbs.
09:03Of course, it's important to think of small spaces and the challenge of designing them in terms of optimization and
09:12getting the most out of every inch of the apartment.
09:15But the challenge for designing small apartments is to add a lot of character and a lot of personality.
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