Brazilian studio Debaixo do Bloco Arquitetura has opened up the layout of an apartment in Brasília built in the 1960s to meet a family's contemporary requirements.
The remodelled apartment is located in residential building 308S in Brasília's model superquadra, one of the first completed apartment blocks of the urban design scheme conceived by architect Lucio Costa and landscape architect Burle Marx.

Local studio Debaixo do Bloco Arquitetura reconfigured the apartment's standard layout, which split the main living areas into two separate spaces.
In the updated floor plan the exposed concrete walls are cut open to form a single, shared space for the family to gather.

The studio was careful to preserve modernist design elements in the apartment, including its granilite flooring and white cobogo screens. "The project is summed up in an exaltation of the Brazilian architecture lighting what is most typical in the city's residences and buildings while joining the modernist and contemporary office technologies and references," said the studio.

Black cabinetry with corrugated glass doors contrasts with the white countertops in the kitchen. Natural light passes through the square cut-outs on the cobogo wall to brighten the narrow space.
In the living room low-lying wood shelving units wrap around the space forming a bench in front of the large windows and a surface for storing objects along the interior wall. The lounge is furnished with a grey couch and wood tables....