Those who know say that Venus and Mars rarely have the same tastes when it comes to decorating. Women love color, men prefer white, gray and black, metal and touches of blue. Men have to have a comfortable chair. Women are willing to give up function for design. Gender clichés that today prove to be just that as they approach positions.
With paint colors neutrals work well for both men and women, along with grayish blues and sea greens. More vivid colors can be incorporated in small doses, for example, in cushions, small pots and other objects.
As for materials, tradition indicates that men prefer durable ones such as leather and hardwoods. But these materials are great for mixing and matching with softer fabrics and prints to create the cosy, warm, feminine look that women tend to love too.
When it comes to art to hang and display, men and women can clash. A versus between the conceptual and floral and botanical art. But there may be points of contact. This is endorsed by the designers Gustavo Yankelevich and Máximo Ferraro, who lead Estudio Modocasa, a plant that stands out for its comprehensive and innovative proposals, with more than 20 projects and works in progress in the most exclusive buildings and neighborhoods of Buenos Aires and inside the country.
“Men changed their approach to interior design. Today they actively participate in their home projects. They get involved, search and decide. They appropriate spaces, to live them and take advantage of them functionally”, point out Yankelevich and Ferraro. “In our latest works the climate is coincident, with a masculine accent, due to the chosen palette and materiality. But even so, they are generic, elegant and very contemporary spaces”, they review
“Gray predominates, furniture in dark glosses. Natural fabrics such as linen and leather that coexist with more distinguished velvets. Generally in our projects we use marbles with new patterns and quartz in coatings and floors. In these projects, the lighting is more punctual, highlighted, creating more dramatic and intimate atmospheres”, continue the partners of Modocasa, winners of the Casa FOA gold medal in 2015.
This combination of colors with gray as a base, but with a predominance of black, can be seen in the main bedroom of the work in the Molinos building in Puerto Madero, where Yankelevich and Ferraro combined textures and sensations. “In this bedroom, the circle predominates in marquina marble, transilluminated, focusing on the fabric of the linen fabric on the wall”, they highlight.
In another circulation space, a coating was applied to the wall, combining fabric, mirror and micro-textured sheet metal. And ahead a work of art in rust sheet and a net console. “We have a high-end level of design, comparable to the great cosmopolitan centers. Perhaps the difference is in the scope of materials that have not yet reached our country, but I think that this is one more challenge that empowers us and positions us as great references in design internationally”, Yankelevich highlights.
Characteristics that are reflected in this desk, where the gray of the lacquered furniture, added to the textured black of the wood, is combined with the leather elegance sole on the saddle and central art to close. A masculine and elegant climate that femininity can enter simply with a few touches of color in objects.
The natural meeting points are found in the kitchen and the relaxation spaces. “Kitchens with large islands, with gastronomic equipment, almost as if we were all experts in cookingintegrated in the spaces to share and enjoy that moment”, adds Ferraro.
“Many wine cellars are chosen, with tasting rooms. More frequently spaces for relaxation are added, SPA with the latest water systems and gym spaces. The pandemic also accelerated the role of home office as an urgency, creating the space for those who did not have it, and updating it for those who did, but for something eventual”, both point out.
The calacatta laminate floors, habano-colored furniture and silver travertine marble home cladding are the final touch. “The materiality of each work is uniquewe trust our suppliers a lot but the search for new and advanced things is constant”, concludes Ferraro.
by RN
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