Loft, created by the architect Alfred Karram, widely known in the USA and Europe, in collaboration with the master of furniture design, Giorgio Saporiti

Passing the gallery

Text: Julia Sakharova

Materials: - (c) Giorgio Saporiti jr

Magazine: N4 (71) 2003

It seems that in the private architecture of Miami, the idea of ​​the palace was pressed by the idea of ​​the factory: in a big fashion, lofts, the prototype of which is industrial premises. Eminent architects Alfred Karram and Giorgio Saporiti put forward their own version of the loft. Miami, Florida, was founded in 1870. The property boom has begun here already in the 20s The twentieth century, however, in the shadow of the dazzling resort of Miami Beach, there was another, port industrial city of Miami. People from different layers of the social "pie" did not seem to overlap. But ... the role of the “agent of influence” was played by urban architecture. Trend began to persistently manifest itself in the architecture of private residences: the most fashionable of them spoke of bohemianism, freedom, individualism in the language of factories and warehouses. Huge, two or three thousand meters, non-residential premises by the efforts of architects began to turn into so-called lofts. Today, advanced intellectuals strive to possess such apartments. They are created by not less advanced architects. Alfred Karram, widely known in the United States and Europe, in collaboration with the master of furniture design Giorgio Saporiti made an expensive loft in Miami Beach. Saporiti, head of IL Loft, which has a network of showrooms in major cities around the world, including Moscow, has manufactured exclusive upholstered furniture specifically for this project. A stunning view from the windows, an abundance of polished stone, a well-equipped home cinema turned out to be a snobishly coldish luxurious interior ... In the Russian consciousness, the idea of ​​a palace, albeit a modern one, usually responds to the concept of luxury and exclusivity. At Karram and Saporit, the idea of ​​a factory became a dominant, a vast space where machines control the production process. To begin with, the walls of the future loft were broken in the single-story space; then, with the help of newly built walls and partitions, they separated private rooms, leaving the public area open, the principle of organization of which goes back to Wright’s “ideology”. Then they installed the "smart home", which greatly facilitates the existence of two thousand square meters. The traditional fireplace in the living room was replaced by a home cinema, also part of the smart system. It is represented by a 64-inch high-resolution PHILIPS monitor with DVDs, a Super VCR Plus player, a digital satellite RCA HDTV receiver, a CD control system, and a THX surround sound system with Nautilus speakers ... Home theater is actively involved in the process. " producing "life comfort of the hosts. The bedroom and the so-called media-room are subordinated to the same task and for this purpose are equipped with Fujitsu high-resolution plasma panels (with a diagonal of 50 and 42 inches, respectively) and the DOLBY THX surround sound system. It is symbolic that the residential premises of the house, the prototype of which is an industrial space, were arranged by architects around the home of the “dream factory”. The owners can control it using plasma tactile and push-button panels installed throughout the house. However, it seems that, in principle, a “smart home” itself can manage its own life processes: it is completely self-sufficient to do without the owners. Such a scenario for the further development of technology was predicted by Ray Bradbury.