Architecture News

In an insightful discussion part of the Navigators of Design series, Malin Gäfvert, the Creative Director at Aarke, a prominent kitchen appliance company, discusses how her approach transcends traditional functional design. She envisions everyday household items not merely as tools to be stored away, but as essential elements that enhance the aesthetic and experience of daily living, transforming them into cherished artifacts. This perspective shifts the focus from concealed utility to visible, aspirational design.

Malin elaborates on Aarke's foundational principle, which began with recognizing a void in the kitchen appliance market for aesthetically pleasing and durable products. Their mission was to replace short-lived, plastic-heavy items with meticulously crafted objects designed to be prominently displayed and to withstand the test of time, both functionally and visually. Aarke, established in 2013 by industrial designers Carl Ljungh and Jonas Groth, aims to elevate often-overlooked home essentials. Gäfvert's role involves sculpting the brand's identity, integrating product aesthetics with interior design trends and fashion sensibilities. She views Aarke's visual language as a fusion of various design disciplines, moving beyond the typical appliance brand image to celebrate how their products seamlessly fit into and improve daily routines, embodying an 'Everyday Engineering' philosophy.

Aarke's creative direction is characterized by a deliberate shift from emphasizing basic functionality to imparting deeper significance, allowing the brand to weave a cohesive story across its product range. They treat each item as a design piece from its inception, infusing a sense of value into routine tasks and elevating them into meaningful rituals. The brand's visual content strategically combines detailed product shots that highlight materials and form with dynamic lifestyle imagery. This strategy incorporates authentic human interaction to add warmth and context, moving beyond a cold minimalist aesthetic. The creative director notes that minimalism can feel detached without a compelling narrative, which Aarke addresses by balancing precise engineering visuals with portrayals of real-life moments, often captured with ambient light and analogue film. This interplay between engineered precision and everyday authenticity creates a distinctive and recognizable brand identity. By prioritizing user-centric design that addresses minor inconveniences and avoids fleeting trends, Aarke ensures its products, packaging, and retail environments consistently reflect a unified, high-quality standard, continually adapting its communication style to cultural moments while preserving its core principles of durability, longevity, and thoughtful design.

Aarke’s innovative approach not only elevates household appliances but also inspires a fresh perspective on how design can positively influence our daily lives. By prioritizing aesthetics, durability, and a compelling brand narrative, Aarke demonstrates that even the most functional objects can become sources of joy and beauty, encouraging us to seek and appreciate quality in every aspect of our surroundings.

The "Casa POP" project, masterminded by Gon Architects, represents a comprehensive overhaul of a 78 square meter residence in Vicálvaro, Madrid. This apartment, home to its owners for two decades, initially featured a conventional, highly segmented floor plan that no longer suited their contemporary lifestyle. The renovation strategy centered on creating a more fluid and interconnected environment by introducing a substantial central storage unit. This innovative approach replaced the previous arrangement of discrete rooms and constricted hallways, fostering an open-plan living experience. A prominent green bookshelf stretches across the entire length of the dwelling, ingeniously incorporating sliding panels that offer adaptable privacy and allow for various spatial configurations to suit different occasions. This transformation not only enhanced functionality but also infused the space with a distinctive aesthetic, deeply reflecting the occupants' cultural passions and desire for a dynamic home.

The reimagined layout of "Casa POP" adopts a U-shaped design, ingeniously circling a central storage module, with traffic flowing in a clockwise direction. This organizational scheme enables a seamless progression of domestic activities, visually and physically linking areas from public to private. The apartment is thus perceived as a collection of diverse, yet interconnected, spaces, forming an expansive and continuous vista. Each of the five distinct zones within this fluid landscape is characterized by a specific color, contributing to a vibrant and immersive atmosphere. These carefully chosen hues, applied consistently to walls, ceilings, and furnishings, evoke a playful sensory experience while drawing inspiration from historical European interiors where color was masterfully employed to influence perception and redefine spatial characteristics. This meticulous attention to detail and a bold use of color define the apartment's unique character and functionality.

A Transformed Living Experience: Open Layout and Adaptable Spaces

Gon Architects' "Casa POP" project revitalized a 78 sqm apartment in Madrid, moving away from its original fragmented design. For Santiago and Ángel, the previous layout with its small rooms and long corridors failed to accommodate their culturally rich daily lives. The renovation introduced a spacious central storage unit and a striking green bookshelf with sliding panels, enabling the apartment to be reconfigured as needed. This shift from a restrictive to a dynamic space better supports their active interests in cinema, literature, and art, offering both openness and privacy through ingenious design elements like the flexible bookshelf and color-defined zones.

The original apartment, built in the early 2000s, consisted of standard domestic rooms including two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small living area, and a separate kitchen, all connected by extensive hallways. This traditional setup, designed for a nuclear family, became unsuitable for the owners after twenty years. The comprehensive redesign by Gon Architects focused on removing these rigid divisions. By establishing a large central core for storage, the architects created a U-shaped circulation path that links various domestic functions. This innovative plan ensures a visually and physically connected sequence of rooms, from more public areas to private retreats. The integration of custom-made furniture, such as the expansive opal green bookcase, not only provides ample storage for their nearly 1,500 books but also incorporates sliding doors that allow for seamless transitions or clear separation between spaces, enhancing the apartment's adaptability and aesthetic coherence. The transformation results in a home that truly reflects the owners' personality and modern lifestyle, offering a refreshing blend of openness, flexibility, and bespoke details.

Cinematic Inspiration and Color-Defined Aesthetics in Casa POP

The design of Casa POP is profoundly influenced by cinematic references, reflecting the owners' deep cultural interests. A still image from Pedro Almodóvar's film, "The Room Next Door," served as a primary visual inspiration, with the green and red lounge chairs in the scene dictating the project's distinctive color palette. Each of the five interconnected rooms within the U-shaped layout is imbued with a specific color, consistently applied across walls, ceilings, and furniture. This deliberate use of color not only creates unique, immersive atmospheres for different domestic activities—such as entering, cooking, eating, resting, and dressing—but also pays homage to historical European mansion interiors where color manipulated perception and scale, adding a playful and sensory dimension to the modern apartment.

Throughout the apartment, visual and spatial connections extend beyond the interior, with windows framing the urban landscape, allowing the passage of time and light to become an integral part of the living experience. The centerpiece, a custom-designed, floor-to-ceiling opal green bookcase, houses a vast collection of books and objects, serving as a shared archive of the owners' lives. Perforated with translucent sliding doors, this bookcase allows for varying degrees of openness and privacy, transforming rooms into softly illuminated volumes at night. Complementing this, bespoke furniture pieces, including a yellow ceramic headboard and a custom desk, further integrate storage and functionality, maintaining a minimalist yet richly personalized environment. The fusion of architectural elements, vibrant colors, bespoke furnishings, and cinematic narratives results in Casa POP being a dynamic interior system that perfectly aligns with Santiago and Ángel's cultivated tastes and desire for a uniquely adaptive home.