ArchShowcase 
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. “A live in tale” in Madrid, Spain by Egue and SetaJune 10th, 2016 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Egue and Seta Description: Let ourselves open the recipe book on its “pretty homes” section in order to get a glimpse on how to turn an old Madrid house from the 50´s into a new and welcoming home to a young couple with kids.
 Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO
 Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO Preparation: Mix all ingredients thoroughly, and let cool. Serve generously and prepare yourself to share with family and friends a delicious home with a happy ending and a savoury aftertaste that manages to convey the personality and lifestyle of a well-read couple and their fairy tail children.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO Neither a castle nor a cabin in the woods: this story´s home, though certainly peculiar could not be called “unique” for it has a “twin” to which is annexed jointly creating a “singular” architectural ensemble. And though not crowned by a tower or a campanile, it does organize itself in a series of three rectangular shaped staggered floors that are topped by gabled roofing under which one can find a double height bookcase full of books and stories.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO But let’s not put the cart before the horse, let’s put our feet back on the ground and return to the main entrance at street level: Once upon a time there was a house to which we accessed by climbing up a few steps that led us into a porch and a front yard where flower pots blooming with lavender awakened our senses: a small garden that surrounds the house up until its northern side where we´ll find the terrace with its swimming pool as nowadays enchanted wells have rather little use. Behind two generously sized sliding glass doors and at the very heart of this house´s ground floor there is a large living room filled with famous authors and their characters who look at us askance from every corner of the thirty vertical square meters of custom made solid wood bookcase recovered from the family´s previous home. We can read about all of them while lying in one of the vintage armchairs from the 50´s that flank the large chesterfield cognac leather sofa or when sitting around the superb dining table rescued from a disappeared nineteenth century French farmhouse.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO If a passage or two open up your appetite, one only has to take a couple of steps towards the open but independent kitchen, which is set as a practical but comfortable space, where the whiteness of the kitchen furniture is combined with the warm texture of a wooden table and the ruggedness of grey concrete floors. To complete this floor´s programme a small office, in case you feel like writing, and a toilet with its shower, for a man shall not live by bread alone. Here, in a rhetorical exercise of stylistic economy and for the sake of a “little diet”, it was decided to use only two materials, micro-cement and wood, creating a resounding space of unquestionable practicality and formal purity.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO They say that reading has the power to elevate and enlighten us, so it’s time to go up to the first floor hall to which we are welcomed by a large pendant lamp that emphasizes the double-height of the space and the vertical character of the house. From here we head to the bedrooms.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO In the first one we could read bedtime stories: a children’s bedroom where to dream and play under a tree house like bunk bed. In their bathroom, the “little ones” share a Koholer metallic double sink in retro style, surrounded by walls of hexagonal Hisbalit tile and grey micro-cement flooring over which everyone wants to get wet.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO In the master bedroom the undisputed star is the light: the different walls and skylights let the sun into bed every morning while inviting us to get up and “live” a new episode of our own personal story. In the master bathroom two bowl sinks are arranged facing the window placed over a vanity top covered in white micro-cement that has been extended towards the shower turning itself into a shelf where to leave perhaps another volume while, if we have enough time, we relax by taking a “fable” warm bath in a free standing “anthology” tub.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO The last chapter of this house finds us at the top floor, one that takes place amongst meetings, play and guests. Here at the foot of the bookcase that greeted us in the third paragraph, we´ll find a playroom ready to turn itself, when necessary, into a double guest bedroom, and the perfect spot to store the literary and video graphic treasure this family hides, while a suspended net bed turns the area into the perfect place to literally “hang”.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO And here we say our good-byes, even though we still have a lot of ink and paper left: It’s time to shut up and let you see pictures worth that of a thousand words. But before and though recipe books do not usually end with such phrase, in this case we could not resist it: they all lived happily ever after.  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO  Image Courtesy © VICUGO FOTO About the designers: Egue y Seta is a design studio founded by a multidisciplinary group of interior, graphic and industrial designers. It provides a wholistic service to clients that go beyond mere aesthetical concern bearing always in mind functionality and budget considerations. Profile: Egue y Seta design spaces and experiences: Business, sales and brand positioning events, Spaces permanent or ephemeral, assuring our clients the highest level of notoriety and exposure for their products and services.  Image Courtesy © Egue and Seta We are more than creative designers. Egue y Seta creates spaces, objects and promotional strategies; we handle their production, assembly and construction, from the conceptual phase to the final delivery, working with the most competitive manufacturers and reliable suppliers in the market. We achieve this through flexible and dynamic professional collaboration tailored to each client’s specific needs. At Egue y Seta we approach every project with the certainty that clients do know what they need, what they like and consider aesthetically pleasing. Therefore, we start by listening carefully to our client and then we use our expertise to create functional and innovative ways of satisfying the client’s needs.  Image Courtesy © Egue and Seta  Image Courtesy © Egue and Seta  Image Courtesy © Egue and Seta  Image Courtesy © Egue and Seta
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