Gheza Vida is the well known romanian sculptor used this house as his workshop. Simple lines and gestures are characterizing his work and are the main guidelines for the design. The new owner agreed to a design that keeps the feeling an the memory of the artist. The presence of massive wood timber and natural materials like travertine are reminding us of the former workshop atmosphere, but give the functionality of a modern house. Every piece of furniture is custom designed with that idea in mind and so with simple cuts and lines it gives the necessary functionality for conformable living meeting the new owner req
Backyard garden
The presence of massive wood pieces is a part of the concept: a garden deposit for brute unfinished material for future sculptures. Solid oak with minimal intervention and a metal steel sheet bended and painted white. The metal creates contrast and gives a comfortable sitting position. One day, a young artist will reclaim the material for new sculptures.
Living Room/ Workshop
Backlight white surfaces are appearing to float deatatched from the painted walls. But the marsala paint and the blue sofa attracting giving a cosy atmosphere. The living room is connected by a sliding panel with the kitchen having the fireplace at center. Black painted glass covering the wall continues the dark finished fire place. The fire place is custom made and it has a three side automatic rising door. Light is filtered in by pure hand made silk window coverings made in traditional method. Special bar stools for her and for him in the drink corner.
Central Hall Way
Sliding custom made wooden doors are covering and uncovering a space used for sculpture exhibition. This gives a special character for an otherwise functional space, the main hallway that connects all the other spaces of the house. Specially designed handles are used on doors which are concealed in the finishing of the walls. At the end corner of the hall way is the main bedroom entrance, intentionally hidden for intimacy reasons.
Tower bedroom
Situated on the second floor, partially attic, this space was configured rasing the level of the roof and resulting in a tower like volume. The bed was positioned in such a way that it can receive the morning east light; the other furniture was bound to the other walls. The desk occupies the whole window south wall, the wardrobe is situated on the opposite side, at the entrance; the space between the terrace entrance and the bathroom was used for incorporating the TV. Light is used for describing the waling paths in the room. The simple “L” shaped desk has the natural oak finished drawers as its visual base, faces of the drawers being designed at different inclinations. This detail is a diagonal response to the one near the entrance in this room. The length of the desk is dictated by the original window position and by the fact that it must accommodate two persons.
Pedestrian Gate
“C” shaped vertical stone plated elements holds the other two wooden beam like an anchor. The metal blades have different roles: structural for the gate and as a handle for the mail-box. Integrated in the wooden beam, the mail-box is only visible by its covering and its handles. The massive wood composition beneath is a reminder of the sculptor’s former house, but also used as a safety measure, by closing the parapet. The shapes of the wood pieces inside are designed to receive sculptures on top.
Feont gate
Metaphor for the relation between the cutting tools used by a sculptor and the natural materials he carves, is the design message of this gates. A massive 600 kg. oak timber is opening remote controlled rotating on a single pivot fixed on an steel gate structure. The vertical blades are for structural rigidity but giving the impression of cutting the timber.
