Michele Gervasoni, owner of the Italian furniture brand Gervasoni, and his wife live in a 170mq apartment, situated in a peaceful location surrounded by nature and silence, but still very close to the center of Udine. When they asked Alessio Princic to renovate their home, they didn't want a house, as Michele is in charge of Gervasoni's export business and therefore travelling a lot. What they wanted was a quiet and intimate nest to rest and gather with friends. The architect was happy to tackle the challenge of his clients desires, so he turned the duplex into a modern and bright home with open spaces and furnished it using just some essential and elegant pieces mostly from Gervasoni’s collection, hidding the rest of the furniture with exclusively functional solutions.
The ground floor has been transformed into one big room, where the living room, dining room and kitchen are positioned in a “L” shape. The architect completely opened the space, preserving just the three supporting pillars in the middle, which he used as a hidden bookshelf, a fireplace and a hidden kitchen cabinet, around which the whole kitchen corner can be hidden with pull-out sliding doors.
The large living room communicates with the green surrounding though large windows and the terrace. There are actually four terraces all together: the main by the living room, the one by the kitchen, the one in the utility area on the ground floor and the “private” one as the extension of the first floor’s open space.
A geometric staircase leads to the white painted first floor nest, which it literally is with its special bedroom: first, there is no bed, just a concrete block with a mattress; secondly, thanks to its sliding wall, the bedroom can be completely closed, opened or semi-opened, so that the couple can enjoy a different view from the bed every morning.
The home has a Gervasoni factory “feel” to it, not only because of the furniture but also because every finish has been inspired from the materials and aesthetics used to create Gervasoni’s renowned furniture. For example the same tiles used in some Gervasoni pieces have been used to cover the ceiling, such as the aluminium on the fireplace wall. Following the same principles, the concrete floor has been hand painted using a spatula, which has given a matt texture. The texture was the guidance for the walls as well: the fiberglass was used to produce a sense of softness, but at the same time strength and cleanliness.
«The architect was extraordinary in understanding our desires and translate them into what became a home that we love. Warm, but not stuffy, aesthetically special, but not a museum, simply a home to live and enjoy, alone or together with friends and family, isolated from the city, but perfectly integrated into it» says the client.
