Casa RJ in Mantua, Italy by Archiplan Studio.

Italian architects Archiplan Studio have renovated an entire multi-storey residential building in downtown Mantua, Italy, including the interior of this apartment dubbed Casa RJ. This luxury home is rich in history, which is further enhanced with a careful overlap of the contemporary elements expressed as a study of sophisticated details and a sensual material palette.

The original features, such as the ornate ceiling and some of the walls, date back several hundred years. The interior carefully maintains a layering approach, which creates slight structural ambiguity.
 The original planning and distribution of the spaces has been maintained, while the subdivision of the interior spaces was achieved via a series of new furniture elements designed to form part of the structure, achieving a second layer of spatial hierarchy.

The project showcases a sophisticated layering of elements that overlap without vanishing, creating a stunning union of the old and the new, achieving a certain kind of equilibrium and a carefully balanced relationship between opposites in which one doesn’t take precedence over the other.

[Images courtesy of Archiplan Studio. Photography by Davide Galli Atelier.]