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Personal Project

Heimtextil and interior design EXPO review

As I was visiting the Heimtextil 2018 expo at Frankfurt am Main, Messe I want to share my photos and notes to give some insight from the event.

There was a presentation held by Kate Franklin (from FranklinTill) at 2 pm on Wednesday titled: “The future is urban”.
Main topics: Soft Minimal, Perfect imperfection, Co-living & Co-working, Maker’s space like Opendesk, Biophilia, Re-made space (reuse of recycled materials)

A few examples grabbed from the presentation:
– 13 m2 Flat by Studio Mama

Image source: http://www.studiomama.com/13m2-house

Urban nomad furniture by Hannabi

Itaca furniture system for nomads by Elena Bompani

co-living in ‘Old Oak’ London by The Collective

co-working, a house for creatives: Alma in Stockholm

My personal opinion on this:

Digital nomads, tiny homes, co-living and co-working is clearly a trend which will dominate our industry. The main reason is the housing problem in big cities which provide the workplace but less and less available homes for rent.

In the video linked above, it was mentioned that “by the end of this century, almost all of us will live in cities”. I believe we won’t see this happening. First of all because as soon as I will have the possibility to work remotely, I will take this opportunity and move out to the country side. This is just my personal taste but I think I’m not the only one who likes calm atmosphere closer to the nature.

Co-living and workshops, maker space can be a good thing though. I love to see that there is market for unique (not mass produced) products and craftsmanship can raise again.

Categories
Personal Project

Retrofit project – Budapest, Raday street

Project: Retrofit project – Budapest, Raday street

Year: 2011
Area: 44 m2

Concept: The original layout of this apartment consisted of one main room, entrance hall, a toilet and a kitchen with bathtub. There was no separate bathroom. After more than 20 years of living in the flat, the previous tenant has left it without any renovation or maintenance. The extremely high ceiling height (4.60 m) is a big advantage in this ground floor property. I designed a loft in the main room which divides the space into a living room downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. Bathroom is also upstairs and adjacent to the bedroom. The loft structure and stairs have a robust steel structure which were installed and designed according to the structural engineer’s instructions. Regarding the new layout, loft and stairs design: we successfully found the balance between the structural requirements, aesthetics and the client’s needs. The ‘S’ shaped edge was a unique idea which made the railing quite difficult to install.

The new materials used for the floors, tiles and furnitures are all in harmony and result to a homey atmosphere with timeless modern look. Also the quality of the materials were extremely important for the owner. For example, the stair treads are made of walnut wood. The material came from the owner’s grand parents where the walnut tree was cut a few years ago and was waiting for the right place to be built in. Neutral and beige colours are dominant in this interior. This sophisticated design is very appreciated by the owner and tenants.

new kitchen with custom cabinets
new kitchen with custom cabinets
new bathroom with tropical merbau floor
loft
floor plan – downstairs

floor plan – upstairs

Before the renovation. Right after the purchase.