Project: Brisa Apartment
Architects: Elisa Albuquerque
Location: Brasilia, Brazil
Area: 689 ft2
Year: 2022
Photographs: Julia Totoli
While they wait for the much-anticipated apartment in the traditional superquadras in Brasilia, Andre and Phublio needed a home. A temporary home but, above all, a home. And they were in a hurry: they needed to move out and intended to finish the renovation in less than 3 months. We established an ambitious schedule and a mere 70 days after the first meeting, they moved in.
When selecting this apartment, they prioritized the terrace and the amenities – their condo sits by Lake Paranoá and feels close to water. Regarding the interiors, their intention was to limit intervention to the kitchen. However, early in design they fell in love with the process and decided to go further. They hoped that the generic developer-looking space, despite temporary, would become pleasing and comfortable.
Interventions to be minimal, strategy was set on materials with textures and colors that could convey the type of domesticity they had in mind. The bedroom received a large mirror and a headboard woven in loco by artisans from the traditional TV Tower local craft market. Soft fabrics and calm lighting helped create the atmosphere they were looking for.
They wished to maintain separation between bedroom and living/kitchen, so that partition was clad with thin white brick. We also removed the dropped ceiling to expose the original waffle slab. The largest and most needed intervention was done in the kitchen: a large cast-in-place terrazzo counter, backsplash, and shelf, besides the mint green cabinetry. The only intervention in plan was the addition of a double sliding door between bedroom and living/kitchen.
It was also part of the strategy that all lighting be below eye-level. Except for the kitchen, we removed all ceiling lighting and replaced it with wall sconces, pendants, and floor lamps. Lighting is diffuse, soft and most of it has dimmers, which allows for localized control and comfort.
