A cool and colourful penthouse apartment in Turku

Occasionally, a submission just pops out at me from my inbox. Whilst I’m not known for often posting bright design schemes here on Design Hunter, it took me all of two seconds to decide that I just had to feature the cool and colourful renovation of this penthouse apartment in Turku, Southern Finland, by Italian designer Maurizio Giovannoni.

The project which was recently featured in Finnish design magazine Kaunit Kodit was carried out for a well known Finnish intellectual, Juhana Torkki, with whom Maurizio exchanged over 400 emails during the design phase, done almost entirely at a distance from his studio in Rome.

“Before renovation, too many walls and doors blocked the spaces and the passage of light, and the most beautiful view of the historical sites of Turku was on the bedroom side. My principal goal in this project was letting the light flow in and creating a relaxing living room where my client could do his creative work” Maurizio says.

To achieve this some of the walls were partially demolished and the location of the bedroom and living room was reversed. The overall “concept” was then agreed upon and the client organised all the details that colour the white spaces.

Maurizio loves to blend different cultures in his design schemes. “There is nothing that stimulates me more than to study different countries and make some cultural themes recognizable but never intrusive in the project.” he says.

In this case, the floor is covered with parquet of white ash, the shelves are birch and the kitchen table is also birch but colored with heat. Wood is a omnipresent element in the apartment as it is in many homes in Finland, but it is the nature themed wallpaper, carrying colours and contrasts and a typical Mediterranean “courage” that really grabs the attention in this apartment.

The furniture is also a mix of the two cultures and of past an present: the grandmother’s armchair is a piece of Finnish vintage from the sixties as is the red floor lamp. The arc lamp framing the wall paper is the famous Twiggy by Foscarini and the suspended lamps are Italian as well: Olimpia by Ideal Lux.  

Everything fits together in perfect harmony!

Project Design: Maurizio Giovannoni Images: Mikko Ala-Peijari