HOUSE ON TRACK
95 m2 on the second floor of a late 19th century building, in the vibrant heart of the multi-ethnic Esquilino district in Rome, become an ideal exercise for STUDIOTAMAT www.studiotamat.com, which has recently completed the House on Track project, designed for Matteo Soddu, co -founder of the studio, and his partner Sergio Marras. The overlap of being both the designer and the client, has allowed a 360° design, a perfect combination between the domestic dimension and architecture to be admired.
A stone's throw from Piazza Vittorio, the house is located in via Giolitti, along the Termini station. The three French windows of the living room and the studio have as their horizon the wall covered in Travertine, which houses the control tower that once regulated the railway traffic, designed in the early 1900s by Angiolo Mazzoni:
“Looking out from the balconies, the gaze extends on one side to the Temple of Minerva Medica and the Horti Linciani, with the Castelli Romani in the background, and on the other to the small church of Santa Bibiana, rebuilt by a very young Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who appears everytime as a small lifeboat making its way between the train tracks and behind which stands the imposing profile of the station's water tower. In the background, the noise of the whizzing trains, the sound of the horns that mixes with the whistle of the Tranvétto, the picturesque urban line that connects the center with the Centocelle neighbourhood… And so we remember what prompted us to come and live here: the surprising mix of chaos and wonder, which are the essence of Rome.”
- tells the architect Matteo Soddu.
The apartment was dark, cramped, with narrow corridors and excessively low false ceilings. The design started from the need to expand the spaces, creating a central open space dedicated to the living room, restoring the original ceiling with brick vaults and homogenizing the rooms with a neutral texture-free floor. The use of color defines the areas, minimizing the number of doors and giving a feeling of great openness and versatility.
The central nucleus, which in the previous arrangement housed the bedrooms, has been completely emptied, becoming the beating heart of the loft.
At one end, the kitchen designed ad hoc is covered with two contrasting materials: the steel of the drawers and the top, and the birch of the wall units, the fridge columns and the pantry. A large vintage table with a checkered top is perfect for organizing dinners with many friends and as a theatrical backdrop for the living room.
The living area, furnished with a black leather sofa, a coffee table and vintage office armchairs found in a flea market in Berlin, houses an open metal shelving, framed by walnut-covered audio speakers, which show the couple's large vinyl collection.
To reveal the owners' background as DJs and event organizers, as well as the double meaning of the name with which the project has been ironically renamed, the console equipped with mixer, plates and CDJ, made of iron and painted in cherry-colored powder, which dominates the longitudinal wall, surmounted by the baroque shape of the Chalk applique by Servomuto in pure white linen.
The neutral color of the walls, which recalls the reflections of the sun rays on the travertine of the station, highlights the brick vaulted ceiling.
An air diffuser with circular cones and vents unfolds like a fil rouge throughout the apartment. At the entrance, its circular section is taken up in perspective by a custom-designed neon light that depicts a smile, a poster of the acid house — a further tribute to the passion for music that binds the hosts.
The central open space leads to the study on one side, completely open onto the corridor, which can be transformed into a guest room if necessary, and to the sleeping area on the other side.
The studio is a volume defined by a shade of blue that recalls the sea of Sardinia, where the couple comes from, and the typical color of the houses in Greece, where they often spend their holidays, and extends as far as the corridor, chromatically interrupting the uniform lime-colored resin that extends over the floor in the rest of the apartment. Inside, there are a desk, the Wassily armchair by Knoll, an equipped wall and a niche with a sofa bed, set between a service bathroom and a wardrobe space. Two vintage lights, positioned on the two opposite corners, aim at the vaulted ceiling, here plastered in a neutral color that amplifies the sculptural effect of the blue that envelops the room.
The bedroom with the master bathroom, separated from the living area, find space where the living room once was, and overlook a more private and silent internal courtyard.
Characterized by a large arch that houses the sink, the bathroom is covered in three shades — yellow, pink, amaranth — of small-sized tiles, which identify the different functions. The two portholes on the wall that overlook the bedroom allow for natural lighting.
The bedroom follows the logic of the studio: it is as well a single mustard-colored volume, a box that encourages rest. The wall behind the bed is shaped to house a shelf for books and for Nemo's Lampe de Marseille, while the large wall unit for the open wardrobe is shielded by a full-height curtain with a toile de jouy pattern, in contrast with the Aperitivo suspension lamp by Servomuto, made with Hermès fabrics and brass details.
Original details, vintage furnishings and a bold color palette, sculpt a loft designed ad hoc on the eclectic and lively personality of its owners, in total harmony with the neighborhood in which the apartment is located, fascinating and full of contradictions.
