00:05The apartment is located in Friedrichshain, Berlin, a very popular residential area.
00:13The client had a very clear idea of how he wanted the design of the apartment.
00:19The main design idea was to create a series of custom furniture pieces,
00:24all made from the same material but finished in different colours
00:28in order to create a common thread throughout the apartment.
00:38My name is Paula Wagner.
00:40I'm a Spanish architect living in Berlin since 2009.
00:46This area was former East Berlin.
00:50In this area there are a lot of young creatives, galleries, bars, clubs and small retail stores.
01:02The year of construction of the building is unknown. I assume it has always been residential.
01:11The owner lives here. He loves cooking and is interested in arts and music.
01:18The brief specified a generous area for cooking and working, with ample room for storage.
01:28Inspiration came from Japanese design and furniture pieces from American artist Donald Judd.
01:38When I found the apartment, it was a blank canvas.
01:45The original kitchen was turned into the bedroom.
01:50And the original living room became the kitchen.
01:53The rest of the apartment was kept as it was.
02:01At the entrance to the apartment, there is a simple bench to use when taking off your shoes.
02:08There is also a closed rack on the wall.
02:14There is a large mirror to check your entire outfit before going out the door.
02:19It also reflects the surrounding space and light.
02:24Behind the curtain is an IKEA modular wardrobe.
02:28We chose to use IKEA to keep the budget low as this item did not need to be custom.
02:37There are two moderate size windows in this space, which brings a lot of natural light throughout the day.
02:45The sofa, corner shelf and coffee tables were all bespoke pieces.
02:50Made from MDF and finish in sun grey, red berry and black.
02:57The corner shelf can also be used as a chair.
03:02The kitchen is all black and creates an interesting contrast compared to the living area.
03:08It provides plenty of storage and features an induction hub, oven, range hood and a washing machine to the side.
03:17The dining counter comfortably sits too.
03:20With enough room for up to four people to sit and stand when preparing meals or having a drink.
03:29A pendant lamp over the dining counter illuminates the general space when eating.
03:37The lighting under the kitchen cabinets creates a bit of atmosphere while lighting up the counter surface.
03:48The sleeping area is behind a curtain.
03:52The curtain allows light to come through but also maintains privacy.
03:57It consists of a platform for a double bed, made entirely of MDF in sun grey.
04:06The height of the bed has been raised to 70 cm just below the window.
04:12There are steps that you can pull out on one end to allow easier access to the bed.
04:19Underneath the bed and in some side compartments there is plenty of storage.
04:23The lighting of the space is provided by two delicate lamps.
04:28The radiator is hidden inside of the bed platform, under the window.
04:35The bathroom is by the entrance.
04:40The tiles in the bathroom are beige with a textured concrete look.
04:45The bright white beveled tiles help distribute light in different directions making the small space appear bigger.
04:56The floating vanity has plenty of storage with an area for bath towels.
05:02Above the vanity is a rectangular sink and a large mirror on the wall.
05:11Based on my experience, I think it's possible to live comfortably in small spaces.
05:17To achieve good results, it is important to survey the existing space as each cm counts in this type of
05:24project.
05:26With climate change being one of the biggest challenges, the design and construction industry has a responsibility to think of
05:35new ways to renovate existing spaces using sustainable materials.
05:40They also need to think about building circular, naturalizing, rethinking the ways we live and providing ideas and solutions to
05:48the current and future society.
05:58For more information, visit www.fema.org
05:59www.fema.org
05:59www.fema.org
05:59www.fema.org
06:03www.fema.org
06:03www.fema.org
06:05www.fema.org
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