CHANCHS, a new project in the Arrancapins neighbourhood of Valencia by DG Estudio, where a sense of humour and joy invade every corner of the house from floor to ceiling. Lots of colour and boldness lead to an integral reform for a young family.
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
William Faulkner
Before 2020, being a “digital nomad” was more than a collective aspiration. Where freedom of work mixes with leisure. Working no longer had to be the grey reality which Jacques Tati mocks so much in Playtime. Having your office in an eternal summer: the dream of many, the envy of many others. But there comes a time in life when, amidst so many sunsets in exotic countries, one looks to the horizon and thinks about which amongst them is home.
This project speaks of this process, of horizons, roots and emotional landscapes.
The inhabitants of Chanchs are a family that have a personal relationship with colour and design. They have a large collection of treasured objects and their idea of a home revolves around communal spaces and a table where you can share a good specialty coffee at the end of the day.
The horizon, on the other hand, is a somewhat unique spatial concept. Virtually non-existent, abstract, but uniting two spaces as separate as the sky and the sea in a single landscape. No two are alike, just as every moment in life is special.
This project revolves around this idea of a virtual horizon running through the entire house uniting two completely separate spaces: the structure of the apartment with its original language, and the new layout with a contemporary and totally distinct language.
Just as the horizon separates the sky blue from the ocean blue, in the project it separates the petrol blue of the original moldings from the Klein blue of the new furniture. But horizons not only separate the colours of the sky and the sea, they also allow a place of rest for the sun, the clouds or a distant island.
For this reason, the horizon of the project has a thickness allowing the placement of different objects that hold special meaning for the family and that form a part of their history.
The entryway leads directly into the heart of the house, the meeting point between the kitchen, dining room, living room and office. Everything in an open space that revolves around a central cupboard in an accentuated Klein blue on which rest the original mouldings of the house.
The hallway that distributes the more private areas of the home also becomes a storage space thanks to the large cupboard that runs along the length of the dividing wall in a pristine white colour.
The two bathrooms, one in yellow and the other in green, complete the triad of saturated colours that cover the house below the horizon line. Two children’s bedrooms and the master bedroom conclude the functional programme with a relaxed and timeless atmosphere where the combination of original ceiling mouldings above the horizon line stand out against the modern lines of the new layout.
The solid colour palette is complemented by the textures of natural materials with oak flooring and Macael marble in white tones and bluish veins for the kitchen worktop.
A project which contains the experiences and objects of a life well lived, amassed during more than 10 years around the world, and that transforms the horizon of those relished sunsets into a basis to create new ones from their home.
DG ESTUDIO
Isabel Roger and Daniel Gonzalez, both architects since 2005 by the ETSAV, are DG Estudio, an architecture and interior design office based in Valencia specialised in new construction, refurbishment and rehabilitation. From the central neighbourhood of Velluters, they practice a relaxed and simple architecture with interior details designed to be in dialogue with the space and its surroundings.
Check another project by DG Estudio here!
Facts & Credits
Project title CHANCHS
Typology Residential, interior design
Location Arrancapins neighbourhood (Valencia)
Year of execution 2024
Architectural project, building execution and interior design DG Arquitectos,Isabel Roger & Daniel González.
Collaborators GOSENDE NAVARRO· Studio, Carlos Gosende & Merxe Navarro
Photography Fotógrafa de arquitectura, Mariela Apollonio
Text provided by the architects
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