LUINI | Davide Minervini

LUINI is the project for a minimum living unit, just 39 square meters, located in the first suburbs north-west of Turin.

The design experimentation immediately turned towards the rational search for an optimal use of space and the enlargement of the perceived space.

The open-space solution for specific customer requests was excluded from the outset.

The initial state of the flat was characterized by a profound waste of space due to the use of poorly designed distribution systems that occupied an important area with a use that did not allow for other functional possibilities. The solution found therefore arises from the complete redesign of the internal distribution.

The entrance on the corridor, from which you could then access the room, the dining room and the bathroom, is cancelled.

Access moves to the living area, which gains some square meters previously occupied by the corridor. The hallway, which connects the living area with the bedroom and the bathroom, is oriented on an axis rotated by 90° with respect to the original corridor, thus allowing the two rooms to be visually communicated.

In this way, the two major axes on which the plan is developed were made visible, the first entering, the second passing from one room to another.

This is the main tool used to increase the size of the perceived space and, therefore, to "magnify" the environments.

The distribution thus developed allows the flat to be crossed, from its most public to the most private area, rather than providing a distribution centre, with no other function.

To further optimize the space and strengthen the functional and perceptive solutions identified, only custom-made furnishings were created for the entire flat. The kitchen, a true equipped wall and main constituent element of the living area, extends over the entire internal height of 3m and the width of the room of almost 5m. The work area, which would make it immediately recognizable as a kitchen cabinet, can be completely hidden by retractable folding doors, leaving only open spaces that also act as a bookcase. This allows the living area to "transform" and present itself to those who visit the flat as a contemporary living area and not as a dining room.

The hallway, characterized by the row of two full-height doors, performs the function of anteroom, but also houses a small laundry and storage space on the second side of the entrance closet.

The bathroom uses a pre-existing niche to create, thanks to a translucent door, a storage space that also hides the necessary heating systems.

LUINI is a contemporary house of 39 square meters where no cm2 is left for unscheduled use or non-use; a succession of unexpected functional areas due to the size of the accommodation but which find their ease and their characterization which is also aesthetic but always functional.