RUBIANO
CLIENT Sara Rubiano
LOCATION Bogotá, Colombia
YEAR 2013
STATUS Completed
PROGRAM Housing
DESIGN & PROJECT ARCHITECT Carlos Martinez
CONSTRUCTION ARCHITECT Carlos Martinez
TEAM Carlos Martinez / Fidel Mendoza
COLLABORATORS
DECORATION: Virginia Alarcón
PHOTOS: Mauricio Mendoza
Having lived for 10 years in a boat, the couple how owns this apartment wanted to have the largest storage capacity possible. Based on the design of ships where every inch has a specific use, we proposed a massive piece of furniture. It occupies a whole side of the apartment, allowing services, his stuff and even a small office hide.
The apartment is configured as a single space, containing a kitchen as the heart of the project, a room and a social area. All spaces linked through the piece of furniture at the side supporting these spaces.
The wood is the predominant element of the work, as it evokes the idea of an old ship and creates a sense of shelter and warmth to the living space. The concrete in the floor and the ceiling is a contrasting material between cold / warm. Air and light come in the unit through a single large window. Divisions between the areas were made at half height with opalized glass that allows the passage of light without seeing through them.
While the cabinet is closed, gives the sensation of a wood wall, hiding everything in sight of the people. But when the doors are open is not known what to be found behind them. As architects, we are very interested in the surprise factor as an important element to design. Even a large piece of furniture can become architecture when we play with the emptiness left between its elements, in this case habitable emptiness.
In the world of architecture and construction people speaks about the value of a square meter, however this is a two-dimensional concept, applicable to flat elements. We believe in the value of cubic meter, which is three-dimensional and really speaks of spatiality. On this basis we design every detail of the apartment as the creation of a whole.
