project:  2024 ​

completion: 2026

service: architectural design, construction documentation, author supervision

temportality: decades

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A little piece of an oasis. A home that has the ability to calm you down. A space where you can slow down. These are the things that come to mind when I think about the place my husband and I helped bring into being and where we now live. The journey towards a space that responds generously to our needs was not a short one. Alongside experience, time, and an enormous amount of work, we were also fortunate to encounter circumstances that one cannot claim to have earned, but can only be grateful for.

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Today, I feel as though I go on holiday every day simply by walking into the living room. One foot on stone, the other on the new wooden platform. From there, I look out into the crown of a linden tree moving in the wind, like a rustling sea.

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This little paradise was created within a Functionalist apartment dating from the late 1930s. Our travels undoubtedly inspired the overall approach to the renovation, just as they continue to inform both of our creative practices. Japan left the strongest impression on us. Rather than formally transplanting Japanese aesthetics into a Prague apartment, however, we drew on principles that resonate with us: visual restraint, spatial continuity, the use of light, carefully considered details, and a conscious selection of the objects we choose to surround ourselves with.

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After all, a space always reflects the lifestyle of its inhabitants. Visual restraint, for example, goes hand in hand with the need not to accumulate things. Even with plenty of closed storage space, there’s a simple rule at home: one thing in, one thing out. Having fewer possessions does not mean emptiness. Rather, it helps create space for what truly matters – and for everyday rituals, from making tea and playing musical instruments to simply enjoying silence.

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The original reinforced-concrete frame allowed us to rethink the layout with almost no constraints and adapt it to contemporary ways of living. The former entrance hall became the kitchen and dining area – the natural centre of everyday life. The original kitchen and pantry were transformed into a second bedroom with its own bathroom and separate entrance. Today, it accommodates a variety of guests, but it could just as easily become part of the main apartment or once again function as a separate unit. The layout is therefore not designed around a single moment in life, but can evolve together with its inhabitants.

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The same principle informed the choice of materials. The interior was not intended to impose a particular style, even on its potential future inhabitants. Natural timber, white and grey surfaces, and areas of exposed reinforced concrete create a calm backdrop capable of accommodating different expressions over time. The character of the space is shaped not only by its architecture, but also by the objects that gradually find their place within it – favourite artworks, posters collected on our travels, a rug from Albania, a stone from Switzerland, a lantern from Japan, or books from all over the world. Eventually, we accumulated so many posters that they required a system of their own, combining a gallery display with a built-in wardrobe.

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To me, architecture is never truly finished. It lives alongside its inhabitants and changes just as they do. Every photograph or publication captures only a single moment along that journey. I do not see this home as a completed project either, but as a place that continues to evolve with us and, every day, teaches us to live a little closer to ourselves.

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Architectural design: Alžběta P. Brůhová, Lukáš Pilka

 

Photography: Alexandra Timpau