Creating a sculptural statement that expands to include a perforated sheet metal ceiling detail and a cantilevered stairwell, the burnished brass fireplace of MM Apartment – designed by Menichetti+Caldarelli Architetti – becomes a pivotal focal point of the minimalist home. Not one to create a singular statement within a structure, the architects multiplied the functional statements with a series of white shelving room dividers that feature both wood doors and open cubbies.
By creating walls of open and closed storage, the architects where able to provide the homeowner plenty of space to both “hide” and “display” various items without closing off the various zones.
The open cubbies also allow natural daylight to continue into and through the various voids, flooding as much of the home with daylight as possible.
One of the shelving units continues through the 2nd storey mezzanine to create a functional balustrade up above.
The over height unit is the backdrop to the double volume living room.
The shelving unit takes on a Piet Mondrian effect with its abstract rectangles of – in this case – wood panels and white lines.
The oversized tufting in the sofa picks up on the wood panels within the shelving unit, allowing the only bold shades of neutral to play off of one another in a playfully dramatic statement.
The sectional within the living room and the dining room table are lined up symmetrically with the rest of the main level expanding out on either side of them.
On one side of the dining area, a small office niche is created with a tabletop spanning the distance between two walls in front of a window. The white on white effect minimizes its presence and the spanning of the desktop allows natural daylight to continue into the home both above and below the workstation.
Directly across from the office niche is the fireplace, both creating the central axis to the living and dining room areas.
Even the dining table focuses on geometry within its two acrylic bases facing in opposing directions. The commonality of geostyle inferences creates a vibrant multi layered design effect in what is otherwise a minimalist aesthetic.
Just as with the dining table base, the kitchen features two banks of cabinetry in opposite directions, and continuing this “same as” effect is the pair of pendants over the island.
The kitchen is not visible in the open plan of the social zone but is instead positioned behind walls on the other side of the unit.
The wall that separates the kitchen from the dining room is the same wall that supports the cantilevered stairwell.
This wall also leads to the entry/exit, positioned between the wall and the double storey shelving unit.
The cantilevered stairwell appears to have no balustrade but is actually flanked by tempered glass, allowing views of the perforated dropped ceiling panel and burnished brass fireplace to be part of the journey upstairs.
The fireplace is double sided not just in the firepit section, but also in the wood storage cubby, making this truly a 3 dimensional work of art.
The solid wood treads and the perforated details in the sheet metal dropped ceiling create their own sculptural statement of lines and circles.
The 2nd storey is where the private zones of bedrooms and bathrooms are located.
The mezzanine at the top of the stairs keeps a connectivity to the main level.
The mezzanine has the over height shelving unit as its safety rail and its extra deep top makes the perfect perch for a pair of elbows.
The master bedroom continues the use of glazing with its frosted glass entry door. Here, instead of using sculptural wood, steel and brass details to create visual interest, the fun is created with a large horizontal pattern on the headboard wall and intricate tiles in the shower.
The detail on the headboard wall is a graphite and floral pattern that offers up a storyline of sleeping under a tree in full bloom and with light casting out from above and below it it has a very ethereal quality.
The band of tiles in the ensuite create a band of geometric detail that compliments the geostyle presented on the main level.
A second bathroom keeps it simple with its white and pale wood finishes, allowing the pops of pink and yellow on the bedding in the next room to be the stars of the show.
Menichetti+Caldarelli Architetti
Photography by Paolo Tosti
