Roman Rhapsody
Rhapsody: a piece of music that has no formal structure and expresses powerful feelings
This apartment, located in the historic center of Rome - adjacent to the church of Saint Anthony of the Portuguese by Martino Longhi il Giovane, has been transformed through interventions of renovation and restoration into a residence for a young professional. The interior space, filled with a great abundance of artworks and designers’ furnishings, almost becomes an ephemeral apparatus, whose rooms embrace the Folies du Roi. The intention was to outline a harmonious environment, able to relate both to the strategic position of the building and to the extravagances of its tenant. The spatial layout, which remained almost unchanged, is articulated by means of a sequence of rooms, unexpectedly versatile, which allows infinite possibilities of communication between the areas. A subdivision by strophes that becomes a narrative instrument and a key to understanding the apartment. Each room is treated as a closed space, almost in competition with the others. A rhapsody of voices between a bright marble grit floor and a valuable coffered ceiling on chestnut wooden beams, which now gravitate on a surreal abacus of more or less dissonant elements: from minimal to pop, from modernariato to high tech. Consistent with the baroque ornamentation that characterizes the facade of Longhi, the apartment communicates effortlessly with the Roman surrounding, showing off artistic installations, lighting fixtures, iconic furnishings and site-specific furniture designed by our studio.
