White – the purification of space!

IAnD Exclusive

Designer’s Personal Spaces 

By Rutvi Ashar
Photography: Fernando Guerra; courtesy Fran Silvestre Architects

Read Time: 2 mins

Fran Silvestre Arquitectos studio(inset) Principal architect  Fran Silvestre

Spanish architect, Fran Silvestre gives us a tour of his office, explaining that meaningfulness of a space lies in difference; perhaps why his design is perennially characterized by the über-aesthetic, minimalist white.

Strong lines in pure white cut through the gorgeous landscape of Valencia much like a sculpture on display as one stands outside the studio of Fran Silvestre Architects. 

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Romanian-French sculptor, Constantin Brancusi said, “Architecture is inhabited sculpture.” The study and workshop of the sculptor Andreu Alfaro designed by the office of Spanish architect, Fran Silvestre is now home to his architectural practice.

While this may sound complicated; once the physical space is observed, all complexities just fade away. The white minimalism that is typically Fran Silvestre takes over and absolutely stuns!  

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Like most of Frans projects, his office too absorbs and distills the countless problems of program, site and context, structure, construction technologies and others, adding them in the game space and form that could be understood as the real subject of contemporary architecture. Therefore, what may seem abstract characteristics are actually important signs of cultural and contextual thought. 

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The highlight of the project is the project itself! With each room designed in a different way according to the function it performs, a unique design language is generated. The list of materials and colours is restricted to a minimum, using mostly ceramic flooring and plaster coating while the white monotones are broken only by greys in select finishes. The limited palette has enabled for quick and easy construction especially for the façade, which is made of large-format prefabricated concrete panels. 

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The entire practice of architecture here is dominated by a great affiliation towards art. The forms are well defined; all axes lead to answers to larger questions and create an environment for daily life that would lift one out of the ordinary.

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High Five:

• Your USP to success?
  • The focus of the projects arises from a double commitment: the will to give a technical response to a specific context and the desire to seek beauty through the built work, pursuing the satisfaction of all those who actively participate in the development. Especially of users, but also of collaborators, builders and designers.
• A design philosophy that directly influences/ inspires you?
  • We are interested in continuity with the environment that we must respect, but also understood from a spatial and temporal point of view, valuing the architecture that is capable of passing through time without becoming obsolete.
• The one thing that you have done for yourself that you’d never do for a client?
  • Give up things in the project that make us happy; with a client, try to keep this from happening.
• An important design lesson that you abide by?
  • Pay attention to the economy - without waste.
• A message that you’d like to convey to your client through your own space?
  • Innovation, introducing new materials, new technologies that improve people's lives. Also, the purification of space, removing or hiding from it all that is not necessary.

Fact File:

Client: Andreu Alfaro

Design Firm: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

Principal Designer on the project: Emilio Giménez

Built-up Area: 200 square metres (2152.78 sq. ft.) 

Location: Godella, Valencia