My Houzz: An Italian Architect's Colour-Filled Home in Spain
Sneak a peek inside Italian architect Teresa Sapey's eclectic and artistic Madrid home
“My home is imperfect, just like me. Welcome to my world,” architect Teresa Sapey says. The way she speaks and communicates her thoughts and her many ideas – in few words, but always with great humour and irony – is indicative of how she approaches both life and design. Indeed, her personality can be felt in every centimetre of this space, which is filled to the brim with handpicked artwork and iconic decor items. As she notes, her apartment is not an interior design project, but a life project.
This dining area is the first thing you see upon entering the home. Between this space and the door there is a small entryway and a hallway leading to the rest of the apartment. This image perfectly sums up the eclectic style of Sapey’s home.
Panton chairs, a vase by Fornasetti and numerous pieces of art, some of which she even made herself, fill the space. The photograph of the building in the process of being built is by Aitor Ortiz, while the piece on the wall that reads, in neon lights, ‘It is more than a house, it is a world,’ is her own work. “The style of this home is not that of an architect, a decorator or an interior designer. It is the style of Teresa Sapey, the person. Here I am, hence the message of this work: this is not my house, it is my world,” she says.
Panton chairs, a vase by Fornasetti and numerous pieces of art, some of which she even made herself, fill the space. The photograph of the building in the process of being built is by Aitor Ortiz, while the piece on the wall that reads, in neon lights, ‘It is more than a house, it is a world,’ is her own work. “The style of this home is not that of an architect, a decorator or an interior designer. It is the style of Teresa Sapey, the person. Here I am, hence the message of this work: this is not my house, it is my world,” she says.
“I’m from Turin, the city of Carlo Mollino and Fornasetti. I cannot live without something from there. When I was a little girl and Fornasetti was not yet famous, sometimes he would come to dinner at my parents’ house in Turin and bring them things that he had painted,” she says. Here in the foreground we see a vase by the renowned Italian artist.
“I have many inherited objects: rugs, tables, paintings … Others are returns. Clients who didn’t like certain items gave them back to me, so I kept them. Others I’ve been buying over the years. This is not really a home that I designed: it’s more like one that I assembled, in which I placed all the things that I have and that I like,” says Sapey.
“I have many inherited objects: rugs, tables, paintings … Others are returns. Clients who didn’t like certain items gave them back to me, so I kept them. Others I’ve been buying over the years. This is not really a home that I designed: it’s more like one that I assembled, in which I placed all the things that I have and that I like,” says Sapey.
“I love art. Art gives me energy, it charges me like a battery. When I design something, I often do it from an artistic starting point,” she says. She decorated the table top in the dining room, for example, with images of hands. Here we also see a floral centrepiece – flowers are another of her greatest passions.
“I came upon this apartment by chance, because a friend of mine who lives in the building informed me that someone had moved, so I gave them a call. When I entered the apartment for the first time, I saw that it wasn’t perfect, but I fell in love with the views and the location. So, I decided to ask for permission to renovate,” she says.
“The apartment was elegant, very bourgeois and masculine. Before me, a widowed man had lived here with lots of ancient art. The whole place had been painted grey, and had mouldings and carpet flooring. So, I gave the space a feminine and sexy spin,” she explains. “I created a white box. As it is a home with a view, you have to look outside, not inside. I got rid of everything that was left over from the previous era and filled it with all of my mementos.”
Here we see everything from a pair of Barcelona armchairs designed by Mies van der Rohe (seen from the back) to an Arco lamp, a classic Achille Castiglioni design. There is also video artwork by Julian Opie in a light box on the back wall as well as an inflatable snake by Niki de Saint Phalle on the couch.
Here we see everything from a pair of Barcelona armchairs designed by Mies van der Rohe (seen from the back) to an Arco lamp, a classic Achille Castiglioni design. There is also video artwork by Julian Opie in a light box on the back wall as well as an inflatable snake by Niki de Saint Phalle on the couch.
This flower pot centrepiece is from the Adan collection, which Sapey designed for the Spanish company Vondom. She keeps it on the dining room table and uses it to store pencils.
The table and rug in this corner of the living area are pieces she inherited from her family. The work of art on the wall above the stereo is by Tatsuo Miyajima. Again, there are more flowers.
“I lived in Turin until I was 25, then in France and finally in Spain, where I’ve been for 27 years. I feel Mediterranean because I am neither Spanish nor Italian, and besides that I feel very French because my family is from the French Riviera, and at least part of my education took place in Paris. Sometimes, culturally, I feel like a fish out of water – but it doesn’t really bother me,” she says.
“My creative process is the sum of all of this: my projects are refined in French style, with great attention to detail – even those details you can’t see – as a good Italian [would do], and the strength they have is completely Spanish. The energy and fearless experimentation with larger-than-life objects is something I have absorbed from living in Spain,” she says.
“I lived in Turin until I was 25, then in France and finally in Spain, where I’ve been for 27 years. I feel Mediterranean because I am neither Spanish nor Italian, and besides that I feel very French because my family is from the French Riviera, and at least part of my education took place in Paris. Sometimes, culturally, I feel like a fish out of water – but it doesn’t really bother me,” she says.
“My creative process is the sum of all of this: my projects are refined in French style, with great attention to detail – even those details you can’t see – as a good Italian [would do], and the strength they have is completely Spanish. The energy and fearless experimentation with larger-than-life objects is something I have absorbed from living in Spain,” she says.
In this part of the room, Sapey hung a silkscreen print of Marilyn Monroe, by Andy Warhol. Completing the scene is a classic chest of drawers with a white vase by Lladró on top, accompanied by the stool or side table from the Adan collection, on which a Glo-Ball lamp, designed by Jasper Morrison for Flos, sits.
“The air conditioning ducts were standard, but my aesthetic and my vision for a space reach even the air ducts. I cannot live with a grate that reminds me of a storage room. I changed them because they are as important to me as a sofa, a painting or an object,” she says, describing the space-age ventilation ducts that we see here.
In this corner, there is an eclectic assortment: a classic writing desk, a painting that is a family heirloom, Egyptian alabaster vases and a Piedmontese baroque candelabra that is also an heirloom.
This part of the living room is fully connected with the small sitting room to its side, but they can be separated with sliding doors. The sitting room leads to the hallway.
There is a small desk in the room, as we can see on the right, although Sapey doesn’t make much use of it. “Houses have changed; they no longer need a studio or a library. You can work from a tablet anywhere in the apartment. I often work lying on a sofa. I don’t need a desk anymore,” she says.
There is a small desk in the room, as we can see on the right, although Sapey doesn’t make much use of it. “Houses have changed; they no longer need a studio or a library. You can work from a tablet anywhere in the apartment. I often work lying on a sofa. I don’t need a desk anymore,” she says.
She adds, “Entrance halls are also a dead space now. People prefer to enter directly into the living room – or some other room – rather than lose floor space by having an entrance hall. Likewise, the owners of the majority of the houses I am currently designing don’t want any kind of barrier between the kitchen and the living room anymore. And it’s not just a matter of [size]: I’m currently working on 300-square-metre apartments.”
On the opposite side of the small sitting room, closer to the balconies overlooking Retiro Park, we see the Chemistubes vases she designed for Vondom – clear evidence that she is completely fearless when it comes to experimenting with oversize objects. In the background, we can see a work of art she created that was inspired by Bauhaus symbols.
On the opposite side of the small sitting room, closer to the balconies overlooking Retiro Park, we see the Chemistubes vases she designed for Vondom – clear evidence that she is completely fearless when it comes to experimenting with oversize objects. In the background, we can see a work of art she created that was inspired by Bauhaus symbols.
Asked what the ‘Teresa Sapey footprint’ is, she answers, “originality, irony and colour. Always in a timeless context. I consider myself to be a typical avant-garde designer. In my work, I always try to go farther, to be ahead of the times, but then I’ll dress you in a suit that will never go out of style.” The chandelier that presides over this room is a good example: it is an updated piece, inspired by the classic spider models, but pink. Made of Murano glass, it is a family heirloom.
We now enter the hallway that leads from the entrance of the home to the rooms that face the inner courtyard. The globe we see here, which has a bar shelf built into the inside of the base, is also Sapey’s work.
“I am an architect, but I feel like an artist. I feel like an artist and so I create. Creativity and creation are my bread and butter: to invent, solve, create, see, go farther and – have fun. In the meantime, you get something out of it: you discover. All of this can be achieved through objects, spaces, projects or life itself,” she says.
“I am an architect, but I feel like an artist. I feel like an artist and so I create. Creativity and creation are my bread and butter: to invent, solve, create, see, go farther and – have fun. In the meantime, you get something out of it: you discover. All of this can be achieved through objects, spaces, projects or life itself,” she says.
The first room that we find along the hallway is the kitchen, designed with functionality in mind. The yellow backsplash, the ceiling covered in a geometric design and the oversized range hood add a fun touch to this space.
We see another fun element – this doorstop figurine that looks like it is trying to keep the toilet lid down – in the bathroom. It was bought at El Rastro, Madrid’s open-air market.
The bathroom happens to be in a bright part of the apartment, so Sapey turned it into a mini showroom. On these shelves we see some books, an old collection of brushes and some of her perfumes.
“I go crazy for bags and shoes. I adore Prada shoes. They have that classic design with a hint of modernity that never goes out of style. Flowers and perfumes are my other weaknesses. My favourite perfume is Noir Epices by Frédéric Malle, a unisex fragrance, just like me when I work as an architect.” This bathroom demonstrates that she does, in fact, have lots of shoes. “I have many peculiarities. For example, I buy a lot of pantyhose, but I don’t know why. I eat chocolate every day, and I’m a champagne addict.”
In the hallway that leads to her bedroom we find countless decorative objects, from a large collection of crystal pieces to shelves full of art books, and these two Miguel Chevalier works behind a ceramic piece by Jonathan Adler.
“I’m inspired by tons of artists: Daniel Buren, Sol LeWitt, Anish Kapoor, Maurizio Cattelan, Alighiero Boetti, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons – they’re my idols, but I’m not sure how much of them there is in my home. They’re in my head for sure, so it’s possible that their work is reflected in the spaces I design, through my own interpretation,” she says.
“I’m inspired by tons of artists: Daniel Buren, Sol LeWitt, Anish Kapoor, Maurizio Cattelan, Alighiero Boetti, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons – they’re my idols, but I’m not sure how much of them there is in my home. They’re in my head for sure, so it’s possible that their work is reflected in the spaces I design, through my own interpretation,” she says.
“As an architect I also have contemporary role models like Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, Herzog & De Meuron, Álvaro Siza, and Souto de Moura, who I find extremely elegant. The Portuguese school fascinates me, because it’s elegant, but also knows how to be sexy. At the same time, I also love more classical architecture. I adore Andrea Palladio, for example. From my point of view, you cannot make modern architecture if you don’t know the classics,” she says.
The hallway comes to an end at this reading nook that leads to the last room of the apartment: Sapey’s bedroom. It is a very bright and welcoming space, which Sapey furnished with an Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen, and an intensely orange, extra-large pendant lamp, that came out of a collaboration with Masters of Linen. In the background there are shelves full of art and design books.
The hallway comes to an end at this reading nook that leads to the last room of the apartment: Sapey’s bedroom. It is a very bright and welcoming space, which Sapey furnished with an Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen, and an intensely orange, extra-large pendant lamp, that came out of a collaboration with Masters of Linen. In the background there are shelves full of art and design books.
Her bedroom is simple and functional. It’s full of very special details, like the sheets embroidered with her initials, this yellow folding screen that she designed and perhaps the greatest treasure of the home: the Miró lithographs that decorate the walls of this most private area. This was definitely a sentimental choice, meant for personal enjoyment.
Yet overall, Sapey likes sharing her designs with the world. “People know me mostly for my project in Madrid’s Puerta de America hotel parking garage. I think this was a turning point, both for me and for the design world. However, I also draft and design houses, for which I’m far less well known. There are a lot of things I cannot show due to professional confidentiality, because the owners don’t want me to. I’ve also done very small projects that people don’t know are mine, like the Christmas lights on Serrano street, for example. Very few people know and that makes me sort of sad,” Sapey says.
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Yet overall, Sapey likes sharing her designs with the world. “People know me mostly for my project in Madrid’s Puerta de America hotel parking garage. I think this was a turning point, both for me and for the design world. However, I also draft and design houses, for which I’m far less well known. There are a lot of things I cannot show due to professional confidentiality, because the owners don’t want me to. I’ve also done very small projects that people don’t know are mine, like the Christmas lights on Serrano street, for example. Very few people know and that makes me sort of sad,” Sapey says.
TELL US
What do you think of this home? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Teresa Sapey
Location: Downtown Madrid, Spain, across from the main entrance of Retiro Park
Size: 142 square metres
That’s interesting: Spanish speakers can hear more about this home in a video made by Houzz Spain.
Sapey considers herself a nomad – just during her 25 years in Madrid she has moved five times and says, with a laugh, that she’s “not ruling out moving a sixth.”
In Sapey’s apartment, location and setting are everything: it is on an upper floor overlooking Retiro Park, a green space in the middle of Madrid. “It’s like a nest on top of the best tree in Madrid. I live with a view of the sea: the sea of Retiro Park. The treetops change like waves. Sometimes they’re green, then orange, dark red, brown … they also vary depending on the day, the light … it’s like a magic box,” says the Italian-born architect.
We see Sapey here lying in her La chaise chair, from Vitra, which was designed by Charles and Ray Eames.