vora: Juan's apartment - best architects 17

vora

Juan's apartment

best architects 17

interior work

Place

Barcelona / Spain

Studio

www.vora.cat/

Photos

Adrià Goula

Description

Before our intervention, the apartment consisted of a set of spaces where various uses had accumulated layer by layer over time. At first glance, one could feel a strange and blurred atmosphere. But despite the confusion we could appreciate the power of the original defining features: a sequence of linked spaces separated by rhythmic load-bearing walls, mosaic floors marking out a hierarchy of uses, big wooden windows … We believe that a refurbishment must make the most of what already exists. This is what happens in the urban fabric, which is a conglomerate of different historical times that contaminate each other, forming a complex and ambiguous whole. Although in this case the building did not have any exceptional historical or heritage value, the space was perfectly re-usable and attractive. It inspired us to apply a strategy of reuse and transformation, with fuzzy boundaries: we superimposed on the restored interiors new functional spaces framed in wooden boxes.