The Copan project involves turning a 1,507 square foot (140 square meters) apartment with original division (three bedrooms, living room, kitchen, laundry) into a contemporary loft with an open space plan. Designed by Architects Felipe Hess and Renata Pedrosa, the apartment is an original Oscar Niemeyer’s masterpiece which was completely demolished with only columns and shafts remaining which determined the new division.

A central block was built separating intimate spaces from social spaces. The block faces the intimate spaces, housing linen and closets. Facing the social area it contains the kitchen and a concrete shelf (where the first shelf works as a bench) that contains the owner’s memorabilia, ranging from music to art, such as Playmobil and awards in Cannes that he won at the advertising agency where he works. Also in the social area is an island made of concrete that functions as s bar and dining table.

A large wooden bookcase designed to fit behind the desk houses a vast collection of CDs in the shelves while the drawers holds the collection of LPs, since the owner also DJs, whether at home entertaining friends for parties, with a view of Sao Paulo’s skyline at the top of the 31st floor of the iconic building, or in clubs in town. Via

Large raw steel doors separating the bedroom from the social area may remain open to enlarge the space, or closed when privacy is needed. Behind the bed is a concrete wall of the original building with scars of more than 50 years standing. A diptych of the photographer Roberto Wagner tops the bed. The bathroom has a toilet enclosed beside the shaft, a sink for open space and a large glass box houses the showers and an old bathtub.

 

During the demolition, the original beams and slabs were discovered and kept exposed. A plaster white ceiling appears in some parts of the flat bringing more warmth to those areas. A concrete device under the back windows works as a cabinet in the bedroom and laundry and as a bench and in the kitchen also housing a wine refrigerator and niches for bottles, that he can grab anytime, put on a Mile’s Davis’s “Kind of Blue,” and watch the sunset through Oscar Niemeyer’s “brise soleil” in a contemporary apartment almost without walls.

Photos: Fran Parente