Berlin-based architect Ester Bruzkus didn’t have to think twice when the opportunity to move to the top floor of her building appeared. This charming apartment in Prenzlauerberg, a lovely neighborhood of bohemian life and hipster flair in Berlin, was the chance to re-imagine her interior design and architecture with fresh ideas, not to mention the chance to enjoy panoramic views.
The result is a distinctive flat that encapsulates all the qualities of Ester’s architecture and interior design practice Ester Bruzkus Architekten: efficient planning, playful material and color juxtapositions, bespoke furniture, and exquisitely crafted details.
Located in the first apartment building constructed after the fall of the Berlin wall in Prenzlauerberg, the property in its original state was an open-plan loft stretching between the building’s east and west glazed facades, with narrow terraces on both sides. Ester has radically changed this layout by introducing a series of geometric volumes that divide the apartment into separate yet connected areas.
On the side of the dining room, a kitchen unit has been incorporated into the oak structure, featuring a terrazzo worktop and pink cabinets which gracefully complement the adjacent green dining table, a bespoke design whose soft curves taunt the rectilinear cabinetry.
The green and pink shades in the dining area are picked up in the lounge, the former by the color of a wall section and the latter by the luxurious custom-designed sofa in three reddish pinks. The candy-colored palette is playfully juxtaposed by the cool concrete floor and ceiling, while the soft texture of the Berber rug is contrasted by the glistening marble of the modernist coffee tables.
It is all part of Ester’s whimsical design of contrasts—curved and straight, rough and smooth, common and opulent, colorful and restrained—which offer a sense of wonder without saturating the senses.
Photo by Jens Bösenberg
Source: Yatzer