Appearances are deceiving, and we embrace that.
We do unexpected. Because we are good at finding out what’s special about you.
In this case our foremost brief was :“I hate boring! Entertain me and make it colorful.” It became the guiding force behind the design of the Felix’s (felix, lat. for happy) townhouse, turning Casa Felix into a fun and irreverent retreat and extension of the personality and soul of its owner (on the photo to the left).
In this case our foremost brief was :“I hate boring! Entertain me and make it colorful.” It became the guiding force behind the design of the Felix’s (felix, lat. for happy) townhouse, turning Casa Felix into a fun and irreverent retreat and extension of the personality and soul of its owner (on the photo to the left).
Is a home capable of making you experience more joy in life?
Emotions define our lives at every instant. The more we gain control over them, the more we thrive in life. While most believe we are able to access and manage our emotions through our minds, the answer actually lies in the body. Chemical reactions in the body affect our hormones which in turn determine our emotions. Neuroarchitecture, an emerging field that analyses the effects of space on our body and mind, shows how spaces can act as a catalyst for particular moods we wish to encourage or hinder.
Designing in an intelligent way allows us to achieve a specific objective, be it a less stressful office, a hospital that facilitates recovery, or, like in our case, a home that can allow its owner to experience joy.
While our studies have shown that applying neuroarchitecture to your spaces along isn’t enough to create the home to reflect who you are and with it build your strong support through life, others have contributed greatly to completing the picture like Ingrid Fetell Lee. In her book ‘Joyful’, she describes how things and colours have an impact on our emotions and allow us to simply be happier in everyday life. It’s worth a read!
Our client was of joking nature and always up for having a good time in life, feeling light. He wished to create a home which would mirror his sense of life, displaying suprising colors and evoquing enliving emotions and truly be adventure on its own. Considering the location, this proved to be an interesting challenge with an even more surprising outcome.
The insider Story
Read the whole story below or skip to the images here
In a district blossoming out of ruins, Casco Viejo, the colonial neighborhood of Panama, was undergoing major redevelopment. For us with our Swiss and Italian background, Casco Viejo represents a piece of local history with which we identify, hence we wished to respectfully bring the old building into the present without creating a colonial representation of something that had never existed: this house was of no historic architectural value. Its bones and facade were merely a few decades old.
This meant we needed to create a contemporary answer to a building in this district. We asked our Selves: ’What is Panama’s contemporary answer to art?’
Having previously designed one of Panama’s oldest and most iconic restaurants amongst locals, La Fragata, we had already done part of our homework and knew Panama has an important collection of writers and artists.
Regarding materials, we considered integrating historical elements as a subtle reference within our modern design approach but encountered an obstacle during our research phase. There were no antique materials nor building techniques to resuscitate, and antique tiles, which were the only realistic historic feature we could have integrated, were not being reproduced anymore. Today, most homes are being restored using Chinese fakes. We had to find a new way to remain true to Panama, creating an authentic tribute to the country.
Respecting the past while embracing the future
Architecture is mostly misused today. Much time has passed since it was common knowledge that spaces belong to local culture and, if changed, have deep consequences on the course of life of the people inhabiting them.
Modern technological advanced developments sold in emerging countries have created important shifts in local culture and habits. People have found themselves separated from their customs and personal power because spaces influence our way of life, emotions, and self-development.
The home was a two storey building, dark and with a small and insignificant path at the back which provided no quality of life to the inhabitants of the home. We needed to bring light into this building and decided to pull the patio into the center of the home and with it restore the original floor plan of a colonial home, just in a modern key.
Located on a lovely street and with Casco Viejo in full development, it was vital that the ground floor be dedicated as a commercial space, and people needed to feel enticed to enter.
We needed to create the honey to attract the bees to the hive.
We developed a color concept that would encompass all the themes that needed to be respected: the client’s wish to express joy and the tropical location. The house would feature a different color on every floor. These colors would subtly also work from the standpoint of neuroscience.
Colors evoke particular emotions and associations, and we would use them to soothe our client’s nervous system. A happy yellow would bring energy to the ground floor and shop. Blue on the first floor, where we located the sleeping area, which is calming and evokes trust and safety. On the third floor, where the living and dining spaces are situated, we used pink, a color that enhances appetite and is equally restful.
Then came the art. The energy of contemporary Panama needed to be released in this home. We contacted one of Panama’s most important contemporary painters, Olga Sinclair, who supported us with her art. We picked three of her paintings that would fit both our client’s personality and the rather classic context.
The colors of these three paintings built the base for the color compositions in every room. The glass separations for every bathroom were painted in three different colors matching the respective paintings and the flooring. Anyone who knows how statistical mathematics works, they will understand how the probability of matching three-floor colors with 3×3 colors for the rooms was intricate. Every color was visible from every angle. Our math teachers would have been proud.
Vitruvius always said it
If a project isn’t equally beautiful, functional, and economically feasible, something has gone wrong. And we were building Casco’s first fully insulated home according to Swiss Norms. To make it all work, we used a trick: every item you would anyway need to build would be made to create the final interior design; nothing should be added. As a consequence, the floors were not tiled, but the concrete was refined, and resin was applied. The walls were replaced by decorative glass separations, and the sinks became the only overdecorated item in the spaces.
Every technical bit was hidden in flush cupboards, conveying the image of a modern home and eliminating disturbing uneven volumes. Inside the walls, we insulated, ensuring the air-conditioned spaces would stay cool for longer.
As usual, it was all easier said than done in Panama. Noone had ever tinted resin floors the way we planned to, and our sustainable project was, again, the first of its kind in the country. Bear in mind that we don’t say that to brag but rather to attempt to convey the size of a challenge it constituted.
As usual, it was all easier said than done in Panama. Noone had ever tinted resin floors the way we planned to, and our sustainable project was, again, the first of its kind in the country. Bear in mind that we don’t say that to brag but rather to attempt to convey the size of a challenge it constituted.
