October 12th, 2007

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We’re just glad she survived her ordeal in the closet… Romanian architects A.A. Studio have sent us a set of pictures of an apartment they have designed in Bucharest, nicknamed The Big White.

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The text below comes from A.A. Studio:

a.a.studio
40, Mircea Voda Avenue, block M11, 6th floor, ap. 60, Bucharest, Romania

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Project: Apartment B.S.
Project Design Manager: Alex ADAM
Project Design Team: Roger Pop, Madalina Florea

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This unconventional interior design of a three rooms apartament combines elements from the pop-art age, from the aesthetics of the years ‘60-’70 and from the contemporary minimalism, all under the influence of white, used so predominant as a manifest against the impure context where the habitation takes place.

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The architecs took this project while the building was still under construction, and the first proposed partition of the apartament wasn’t made.

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Even so, the architects felt like restrictions some characteristics of the space like the irregular shape of the plan, the dimensions of the columns which was bigger than usual or the small height under the beams.

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But above all an incovenince was the surface of the apartament: 110 square meters that include two bedrooms with bathrooms and dressing-rooms, and one living space with dinning room and kitchen.

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The white, with all its shades,on varied textures and shapes was used to create depth and bigger height and also to give an abstract, luxurious feeling to the place beside his apparent simplicity.

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Using the white with no limits, the architects made the space more dinamic,and they played with the light, natural and artificial light. The first step to achieve a unitary style was to build a dialog between all the spaces in the apatament.

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The long hall was designed to be an extention of the living room: on one side of he hall the architects designed a bookcase with a decorative but functional structure. Every piece of furniture was carefuly chosen to unify the concept.

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Posted by Marcus Fairs

51 Responses to “Apartment in Bucharest by A.A. Studio”

  1. ben Says:

    its like a karim and fukasawa colaboration!!

  2. jeroen Says:

    i thought we had left the white cube behind?

  3. Nuno Says:

    Look mom! I live in a hospital ! :D

  4. Mike Says:

    Nice curves, pity about the architecture

  5. Teutzzzza Says:

    I live in Bucharest….i wish i had an appartment like this one…:D

  6. C'pher Says:

    As a mildly compulsive minimalist - I think this is paradise!
    The bathroom sink just caused me to redesign a cabinet I am working on.

  7. alex.adam Says:

    … Thanks for your comments …

  8. brandon pass Says:

    looks like another work of ‘architecture’ solely created for the sake of photography and ones ego…..and whats up with the amoeba cutouts in the shelf? they couldn’t thing of anything more compositionally sound? LAME! all i ask is would any of you like to live like that? in something more steril than a doctors office and about as much imagination as Steven Soderberg’s remake of Solaris. maybe if you were a super hot Romanian woman who needed a mirror finish on the floor to check yourself out from below……

    to me its just an exercise in the futility and obviousness of wallpaper and noting livable that reflects the patina of human life and activity and personality. a major problem with where arc architecture is today.

  9. Bianca Says:

    Dear Brandon…I am a super hot Romanian woman…can’t you tell?

  10. Erik Martinez Says:

    Terrible design; not only a sterile environment, but an inability to come through with their initial thesis. Why are there 3 places in the apartment that are purple, why are the bookshelves amoeba shaped, what is that green spray painted design? If one is going to design with an overarching aesthetic, and this aesthetic will have certain interruptions, these interruptions should be intelligent, well thought and backed up.

  11. Ku Says:

    A wealthy fastidiously psychopath’s home

  12. Ku Says:

    The dark blue colour in the third photo is horrible, makes the room looks like a mortuary….

  13. trish Says:

    Like everythiing in life, this is a reaction to the political moment one is living in Bucharest. After years of artistic imprisonment, they are experimenting with architecture..it is all part of their historic journey. Let them play, and in years to come, that would be part of the past. There are, tough, some enchantment in some details, let’s not forget, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…I also think that, strategically located naked bodies, would address the purpose of the design a little better than “the red stilletos”…maybe I am wrong, you decide!!

  14. rares dragoiu Says:

    take it as a concept. don’t blame it for the look.perhaps they designed the apartment for a doctor family or a very clean person. in bucarest it is nearly imposible to stay clean because the inviroment of a big city is very dirty and the apartment represents a utopic place for the one who inhabitates it

  15. Mike Says:

    Space age design is near… prepare yourself… this is only the beginning…

  16. thecuteone Says:

    That appartment would make a good background for a hot John Stagliano movie!

  17. sanoj Says:

    looks very traditional to me

  18. Chip Says:

    I like the girl in red. I would like a bigger photo with her. :)

  19. Nenad Katic Says:

    It’s so easy to bash or praise this design based purely on aesthetics. It really makes me want to know more about the way design like this support and improves the lifestyle of the owner.

    Funny thing you can see, on and on, browsing trough interiors books — when an architect designs a place for a client, it’s usually about making a bold statement and a couple of good photos of empty space (super hot girl doesn’t hurt either). And then you can see another project from the same architect, a tune-down modest yet very lively photo, and most of the time it turns out to be a space an architect designed for him(her)self.

    Could it be that we always choose concept when we work for clients, and lifestyle when we work for ourselves ?

  20. João Says:

    I liked it, but I wouldn’t live in a place like this… it looks like a showroom, or a place to be showed in expositions… but the light is nice and we can’t turn our backs to their history, cultural and political aspects, just like trish said… but what’s the point on questioning the shape of the shelves??? or the collors??? is there a pattern to be followed on desinging objects???

  21. thecuteone Says:

    As I said, good surrounding for a porn movie, but to live in?

  22. Medina Says:

    I think this apartament was concieved more as an art piece rather than a dwelling space…and starting to comment the architecture from this point of view i would have to say….good work to the architects…it’s pure design ! …but the space was treated by the architects more like ‘object design’ than interior design which is not necessarily a good or a bad thing ,it depends only of what they had in mind…

    my sincere opinion… it takes more to have a unified concept…but good work…it’s a damn good start,they showed they have talent..which is rare,everybody learns architecture…but few feel it.

  23. not important Says:

    While parts of the execution and some of the effects are good, the overall design is tiresomely uninteresting. The chick photo makes the whole thing seem like a desperate effort.

  24. Ren Says:

    Hey I love how they trapped the Architect in that block of resin to make the wall feature, very original detail.

  25. Federico Says:

    If we were talking about object tecnology an everything that I say that it is wonderfull, but i think that were are talking about Architecture, so in this way i think that i is the most life-less thing i’ve ever see. This kind of Architecture can’t be more empty of life…

  26. Michael Says:

    Final grade on this project - D. The lack of spatial qualities and any sort of ideological content remove it from the discourse this website is designed to perpetuate. It’s a set(up).

  27. Norman Blogster Says:

    Can you please get the model’s name?
    I’d like to add her as a very special friend on farcebook.
    More photos like this please Marcus!
    Thanks.

  28. dan Says:

    needs some photoshop to get rid of the architecture.

  29. Candy Says:

    It has some nice aspects and elements. It has a very isolated look, the girl doesn’t belong there unless she is holding a cleaver…

    Perhaps the silhouette of the crazy giant person should of been a nice pattern instead… otherwise who can live there… looks spooky halloween style… missing some pumpkins etc…

    :) I think the shelves are lovely where the girls stands… perhaps some books or something to liven it all up? (Interior designer could help show off your work better.)

  30. Kam Says:

    E.T phone home…

  31. leandro Says:

    geesssh! its sooo blinding white. the lady is soo good to look at not because she’s hot (rightt?) its because my eyes are hungry for color.

  32. rares dragoiu Says:

    what is architecture? architecture is a visual feeling, illustratet in objects and spaces.

  33. roadkill Says:

    As charming as a morgue…

  34. SBassil Says:

    Honestly i feel i’ve seen these type of design over and over … what’s new? visualy it’s well taken care of , with all it’s rendered effects!!?..
    Ah i got it!!… it’s that red lady making all the difference ;)

  35. ayata Says:

    first look it seems minimalist but there are too many comlex parts and unfinished design.

  36. cristinaclem Says:

    the architect must be proud of the controverts!!
    we all like to show off, let’s not deny - architects but also their clients.
    project is a success

  37. Marina Gingirof Says:

    “It’s easy to criticize…It’s not easy to create”. Pacat ca multi nu stiu sa aprecieze un lucru bun indiferent de stil sau de gusturile personale.
    Vreu doar sa va felicit … stiu cat de greu e sa faci ceva altfel in tara asta aiurea.
    Succes in continuare!

  38. athys Says:

    Hmm… the first romanian design “item” I see here. I live in Bucharest… and I thought colours are very important in interior design. After seeing this… I am CERTAIN colours are very important :D

  39. sadpanda Says:

    the only thing i like at first sight is the girl with the red dress on. And I am a straight woman!

  40. manel Says:

    the girl is hot!

  41. Radu - Marian Says:

    This appartment is fanstastic! Great design!

  42. Marko Says:

    Nice apartment, i want to buy it!

  43. lidija Says:

    I’d like to get contact of A.A. studio Bucharest. Could you please send it to me?

  44. a.a.studio Says:

    lidija … for contact a.a. studio … alex.adam@xnet.ro

  45. Chisinau apartments Says:

    Hi. Sure the girl in red realy hot ;) I live in Moldova and for Moldova it is unknown thing. I mean high class design.
    Sergey.

  46. Reny Says:

    Hi. I lived many years in Bucharest, and believe me this is a big progres a bout design in there, many white for me ! but the others elements are nice. good progres!

  47. Very Bad Says:

    >>>>>…………??????? WHAT???? HOSPITAL ?!?!?!??!? MAYBE THIS BOX LOOKS LIKE A WHITE BOX WITH LIGTHS ON THE TOP!!!!!! BUT I HAVE TO SAY >>>>>>>>>>>>> I LIKE THE GIRL IN RED!!!!!

  48. Andrei Says:

    Felicitari, este superb.

  49. Florin Says:

    i live in buc, fwiw
    how could you reach the drawer just above the toilet? standing on it or in it?
    how come the toilet buttons are so cheaply big and gray, when everything else there is preciously minimal and white or violet only?
    will you have to stick your arm into it, if you dropped something in one of the partly-closed wall cubes?
    and yes, the woman in the red dress

  50. Tarun Says:

    Would pass off more like a night club to me ….lacks warmth of a home

  51. nw Says:

    This is not great design. It’s not even good design. It’s so terrible it hurts. Since when store bought cabinetry, strange cutouts and drywall manipulation is called design? Where the heck are the bathroom ergonomics, and is the woman in red needed to insure the wall won’t crumble in the hallway. The base light is pretty funny - I’ve seen them used (sparingly though) in better nursing homes. Those people don’t undertand lighting, they don’t understand color (using all white seems like a cheap subterfuge since the violet used in the bathroom is kind of crass), and don’t seem to undertand that good design is supposed to enhance human life, not create half interesting photography. I am so not impressed

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