0:02

We were a couple looking for a house.

0:07

I got the telephone call from the bank,

0:09

and they said the mortgage has been accepted so you can come and sign.

0:14

And I said, okay.

0:16

And you, watching me, said, “You are pregnant.”

0:20

I said “Yes.”

0:23

When we realised that this place was meant to be for three and not two,

0:28

you have a lot of stuff, a lot of things to think about.

0:32

As a designer, it was a challenge. A beautiful challenge.

0:36

We would like to have this kind of fluidity and openness.

0:40

Also for our baby to pass through the space.

0:43

Hi. I’m Ylenia. And I’m Andrea.

0:47

We both are architects and we are living here with our son Aris.

0:53

Our apartment is 41 square metres.

1:00

We are in the north side of Milan, in the Martesana river area.

1:07

It’s green, it’s open.

1:08

It's like living in the countryside.

1:11

We always say it would be nice to live here.

1:15

It's not so common to find a place like this near the centre of the city.

1:20

You are really well connected.

1:25

We discovered a place which was small and dark and whatever.

1:29

But when we arrived here, the first thing we said, no, it's incredible.

1:35

It's the openness, the park and this, feeling of nature instead of cars.

1:42

This is the entrance.

1:43

A small place, but we try to, to keep, as a proper entrance.

1:48

This is the existing wall, and it's one of the few things

1:53

that remains from the old, the layout of the house.

1:57

All the Wi-Fi and internet connection, electricity stuff are here.

2:03

The keys here. Everything, throw in this drawer. Shoes here.

2:08

They are the ones we use in the season.

2:10

And then we have a place in the, in the room where we hide the shoes

2:15

for the rest of the year. And then, of course,

2:18

all the jacket and little stuff, we need to storage here.

2:23

Inside furniture lighting

2:25

is useful also during the night, if we need something

2:28

in the wardrobe, without switching on all the proper lighting.

2:34

You know, the last thing you do before leaving, you check out, and then you go.

2:38

There are two paper works

2:42

of Toppi, which was an artist.

2:46

This is our guardian. We like to say that.

2:49

And the other one is the guardian of our son.

2:52

There is a little window on top of the door,

2:55

in every door in the building, for the cross-ventilation.

2:58

It was a strong light coming in at night.

3:00

We didn't want to close it. Definitely not.

3:02

So we hide.

3:06

The living room, it is just next to the entrance.

3:09

This furniture is also used by a side table for the sofa

3:14

we have, which comes from my partner of the office, Cesare.

3:19

When he left to go to Edinburgh, we changed the colour and we’re still using it.

3:24

We can change the position of this element.

3:28

It's a perfect bed for one person. So it sometimes happens that we have some guests.

3:35

My mother, his mother, they are taking care of the baby so can stay here.

3:41

But of course, sharing the concept of the house

3:44

that it's a open room.

3:48

We decided also to put a tree there.

3:51

The reason of the wheels is because of the light.

3:53

We need to turn a bit, to give him the possibility to grow in all directions.

3:59

We brought some playfulness.

4:02

We painted in yellow like a rising sun

4:06

from the east side of the house.

4:09

We put in these two shelves there

4:12

to have books and Polaroids and stuff,

4:15

but also to hide the air conditioning, which is

4:19

something that we use only in summer, a couple of weeks or more.

4:23

So it's, it's like, easy

4:27

to use the panel of the same,

4:30

Sottsass ALPI Wood. It’s nice because we don't see this

4:36

technical object inside.

4:40

This video is sponsored by Bambu Lab.

4:43

What if one stool could serve three parts of your home?

4:46

Here's how we made it happen with the Bambu Lab A2L and MakerWorld.

4:51

For the entrance

4:52

we printed this handy shoehorn that attaches directly to the stool leg.

4:57

We also repurposed a headphone

4:59

holder into a clamp-on umbrella hook.

Inside an Architect Couple’s Small Family Home, Milan 41sqm/441sqft