0009 AC Appartamento, Firenze

Some homes begin with a floor plan, while others take shape around a personality. This apartment in the historic centre of Florence belongs to the latter. One of BUNKER Studio’s earliest projects, it emerged from the encounter between a strong personal identity and the desire to create a space capable of expressing it through architecture.

The project unfolds within an apartment in Villino Pellizzari, located in one of the most fascinating areas of Florence’s historic centre. The aim was not simply to renovate an existing space, but to create an interior capable of reflecting the owner’s personality, family history, and cultural imagination.

The transformation begins with a radical choice: to create a neutral and timeless setting through a palette dominated by grey. Walls, ceilings, window frames, radiators, skirting boards, and architectural details are unified in the same tone, generating a rigorous and understated backdrop against which each object can emerge with greater intensity. An almost curatorial gesture, it transforms the architecture into a setting designed to enhance the presence of people, artworks, and furnishings.

Breaking this apparent neutrality, red is introduced as both a narrative and symbolic accent. More than a decorative colour, it becomes an element of identity that runs throughout the interiors, creating visual connections between the rooms. An intense, distinctly Florentine red emerges as the project’s signature, evoking both the history of the city and the artistic tradition of Tuscany.

The apartment is completely reimagined in terms of its internal layout. The original sequence of corridors and enclosed rooms gives way to a large open-plan living area of approximately seventy square metres, where the kitchen, dining area, and living room flow seamlessly into one another. The space gains a new sense of fluidity and natural light while preserving the character of the original building and the distinctly Florentine proportions that define the city’s historic architecture.

The professional stainless-steel kitchen enters into dialogue with resin flooring and bespoke furnishings crafted by Tuscan artisans. Aged oak parquet, used both for the floors and selected joinery, creates a sense of material continuity throughout the home. Every element is conceived as part of a unified system in which architecture and furniture speak the same language.

Art plays a central role in defining the identity of the interiors. Murals, contemporary artworks, photographs, and objects collected over time coexist with icons of twentieth-century Italian design. Seating by Gio Ponti, Franco Albini, and other masters enters into dialogue with vintage pieces, bespoke furniture, and artistic interventions created specifically for the spaces of the home.

Photo © Helenio Barbetta