Before & After: A Couple Give a Treasured Family Home a Fresh Start—Furniture and All

In São Paulo, architect Alexandre Skaff restores fixtures and furniture while updating a midcentury home that once belonged to his husband’s grandmother.

Renovations are always a challenge—but layer on iconic architecture, decades of family memories, and a personal relationship with the client, and a project becomes something else entirely. It’s no longer a space to transform freely, but rather an environment to be treated faithfully, a story to be followed.

This was the case for a recent project by SAO Arquitetura in São Paulo, Brazil. Not only did it involve the renovation of a condo in a midcentury building designed by famed Brazilian architect Artacho Jurado, but it would be the home of Alexandre Skaff, principal at SAO, and his husband André Previato, whose grandmother previously lived in the apartment.

"It’s always an additional challenge to design something personal," says Alexandre, who executed the renovation with his partner, Simone Carneiro. "But this particular project carried an immense load of affective memory for André."

Before: Living room

Before: The apartment had been built in 1960 and owned by the grandmother of architect Alexandre Skaff’s husband until the couple bought it in 2018.

Photo: SAO Arquitetura

Before: "At the time, it was common for apartments to have personalized furniture for the family," says Alexandre. Here, much of the furniture had been made by Brazilian designer Salvatore Dinucci.

Photo: SAO Arquitetura

André’s grandmother purchased the 2,583-square-foot apartment, located on Paulista Avenue, during the building’s construction in 1960. When the couple began looking for a larger home in 2018, André’s parents asked if they’d like to buy it. They spent a weekend in the home to get a sense of what it would be like to live there, and they fell in love.

After: Living room

The renovation entailed completely rebuilding the interior and opening up the segmented rooms. In the living space, a low-slung contemporary sofa offers a comfortable place to land without stealing focus from the restored antiques. The circular mustard rug reflects the tone of the hardwood floors and pulls the room together.

Renato Navarro

See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: A Couple Give a Treasured Family Home a Fresh Start—Furniture and All
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