{"id":2630,"date":"2025-03-21T10:42:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/03\/21\/a-small-but-growing-apartment-inspired-by-a-favorite-novel\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T10:42:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T02:42:38","slug":"a-small-but-growing-apartment-inspired-by-a-favorite-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/es\/a-small-but-growing-apartment-inspired-by-a-favorite-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"Un peque\u00f1o (pero creciente) apartamento inspirado en una novela favorita"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Lots of people get lost in novels; architect Mariana de Dela\u0301s\u2019s client wanted to curl up and live in her favorite book. Italo Calvino\u2019s The Baron in the Trees<\/em> is a fable about an 18th century young baron who breaks away from his restricted life by climbing into the tree canopy and leading a rich arboreal existence. Mariana, who runs her own multidisciplinary studio in Madrid, Barcelona, and Majorca, gamely did a deep read and dubbed the project House for Cosimo Piovasco after the novel\u2019s main character.<\/p>\n

Her client, she tells us, is an artist who runs an emerging gallery in Madrid, and her small one-bedroom apartment is in a 1940s four-story building near the city\u2019s famed Rastro flea market. As an ode to Calvino, Mariana and her team removed internal partitions and in the exposed roof inserted an industrial treehouse-like mezzanine that turned the cramped setup into a duplex. The design works as an art piece, an architectural interpretation of the book, a space enhancer, and a hideaway. Come see.<\/p>\n

Photography by Miguel de Guzman and Rocio Romero of Imagen Subliminal, courtesy of Mariana de Dela\u0301s.<\/p>\n


Above: The mezzanine rises above the living room and kitchen and lends the space an urban cabin feel. The sofa, bookshelves, and stair, among other things, were designed by Mariana\u2019s studio and built, she explains, \u201cusing square and circular section tubular bars welded and painted by the steel shop on the street level below. All serve as a way to experiment with metal and its off-cuts, and the maximization of the space.\u201d
\n

Above: The room formerly had a dropped ceiling that hid a ventilation cavity. The custom kitchen is built from red plywood: \u201cit comes already stained\u2014it took us a while to find and we are super happy with it,\u201d says Mariana. The perforated overhead panel now covers the air unit.,<\/p>\n

The art throughout is from the owner\u2019s gallery, Cinco Tejas.<\/p>\n


Above: The faucet is Ikea\u2019s Bosj\u00f6n, available in the US only in a stainless finish. Open shelving next to the sink holds spices and condiments, but just about all else is hidden inside the cabinets. The bar pulls are lacquered wooden dowels, and the window frames were built by a local carpenter.
\n

Above: \u201cTo keep his books, Cosimo constructed a kind of hanging bookcase, sheltered as best he could from rain and nibbling mouths,\u201d Mariana quotes from the novel, noting that the overhead platform of painted metal can be seen as metaphoric branches. The mezzanine holds a study area overlooking the main quarters and there\u2019s bedroom tucked in the back. <\/p>\n

The floating panel of orange Plexiglas \u201clets the skylights shine through the surface and doubles as a lamp that floods the space with a warm orange light at night.\u201d<\/p>\n


Above: The ceiling is faced with cork panels \u201cto provide insulation for a short period of time.\u201d Mariana describes the setup as \u201congrowing\u201d: the plan is for an additional floor to be added to the space as soon as permitting is granted, \u201cto keep on growing vertically; to keep on gathering light, to keep on looking from above.\u201d,<\/p>\n

The additional floor will contain an additional bedroom with a living area and terrace, and the existing kitchen will expand.<\/p>\n


Above: A balcony with sliding glass doors opens up the space. The yellow metal fan is a design by Mariana and architect Marcos Duffo: \u201cwe currently make them on request and are looking for someone to produce them.\u201d The red plastic table lamp and its companion hanging light in the kitchen are street market finds from a trip to Hong Kong.
\n

Above: The numbered chairs were purchased at a thrift store in the neighborhood.
\n

Above: The \u201changing staircase\u201d is accessed via a built-in cabinet that doubles as a landing.
\n

Above: The greenery continues in the bathroom courtesy of a gridwork of tiles.
\n

Above: The loft bedroom. \u201cFrom the tree Cosimo looked at the world; everything seen from up there was different\u2026\u201d Mariana quotes from Calvino.
Above: The downstairs is rendered in yellow and the upstairs canopy in green. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another high-concept remodel by Mariana de Dela\u0301s:<\/p>\n

Shed Chic: An Off-the-Grid Hut Transformed into a Dream Retreat<\/p>\n

More small apartment inspiration:<\/p>\n