Choosing the fixtures and finishes for bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms is always a design challenge. Whether dealing with wall coverings, fittings, or sanitaryware, gathering as much information as possible is crucial to designing a functional and harmonious space. Among these components, we highlight here the essential details for choosing the best type of sink and its applications.
Mosaic tiles, ceramics, porcelain, wall tiles: when it comes to finishes, there are countless possibilities to choose from to add character and identity to our projects. However, faced with the sheer variety available on the market, choosing among them can be challenging. In this article, we will explore the differences between these cold tiles and offer tips on how to choose the option that best fits your project.
Residência GAF/Jacobsen Arquitetura. Image Cortesia de Jacobsen Arquitetura
When designing homes, architecture is constantly evolving and adapting to environmental conditions. Each climate has specific needs and requires different solutions in terms of comfort. Hot and humid environments require a very different design from cold and dry environments. Natural ventilation, for example, is very important in projects located in warm climates.
João Filgueiras Lima was a Rio de Janeiro-born architect trained at the National Faculty of Architecture. His name, however, evokes a body of work and imagery that has long transcended the city's boundaries and iconic landscapes. Lelé, as he became internationally known, carved out a unique path within the profession, establishing a presence across several Brazilian capitals. He left behind an impressive architectural legacy manifested in public and private buildings, technical innovations in production processes, and a consistently humanized approach to the act of construction.
Hydraulic tiles are tiles produced entirely by hand with cement-based raw materials. Created in the mid-1800s in Spain, and widely used in Europe and America, it is a versatile option that can not only be applied in public areas, such as squares and sidewalks, but also interiors, including floors, walls, and furniture. Their versatility stems from the fact that they are highly customizable, from their colors and patterns to their geometry and dimensions. Read below a mostly technical explanation of these tiles, their manufacture, and their installation.
In residential architecture, there have always been central, indispensable spaces and peripheral spaces more easy to ignore. When designing a home, the task of the architect is essentially to configure, connect, and integrate different functions in the most efficient way possible, necessarily prioritizing some spaces over others. And although today many are designing in ways that are increasingly fluid and indeterminate, we could say that the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen are the fundamental nucleus of every house, facilitating rest, food preparation, and personal hygiene. Then meeting spaces and other service areas appear, and with them lobbies, corridors, and stairs to connect them. Each space guides new functions, allowing its inhabitants to perform them in an easier and more comfortable way.
However, fewer square meters in the bathroom could mean more space for the living room. Or, eliminating some seemingly expendable spaces could give more room for more important needs. In an overpopulated world with increasingly dense cities, what functions have we been discarding to give more space to the essentials? Here, we analyze the case of the laundry room, which is often reduced and integrated into other areas of the house to give space for other functions.