The anticipation is over as the BLT Built Design Awards have just unveiled this year’s winners, and we are excited about the brilliance they bring to the forefront. As a proud media sponsor of the BLT Awards, we’re proud to showcase the remarkable achievements in architecture and design that have earned recognition in this prestigious event. Join us as we explore the innovative projects and visionary individuals who are shaping the future of our urban landscapes.
Among this year’s winners, the Interior Design of the Year 2023 award proudly goes to Flat #6 crafted by the brilliant minds at Studio Mk27.
Photo credit: Fran Parente and Christian Møller Andersen
Photo credit: Fran Parente and Christian Møller Andersen
Flat #6 is a family residence located in São Paulo, Brazil, and was designed as a joyful place full of textures and sharp forms. The design studio responsible for the project, Studio Mk27, is based in São Paulo and has been working in the architecture field since the 70’s.
The team was comprised of the lead designer and founder of Studio Mk27, Marcio Kogen, and designers Diana Radomysler, Luciana Antunes and Mariana Ruzante. They were looking to create a warm and cosy environment where a family could live comfortably while honouring Brazilian vintage designs and local woods.
Photo credit: Fran Parente and Christian Møller Andersen
Photo credit: Fran Parente and Christian Møller Andersen
The flat is filled with a golden light filtered with lace curtains, which cover the big windows that constantly feel like a gentle hug. The living room and bedrooms open up to a big terrace which opens up a sweet dynamic between the intimace of the home and São Paulo’s skyline.
The flooring is made out of basaltine stone and the walls are paneled with ipê wood, which makes the finished look feel like it’s deeply rooted in Brazil’s natural environment. As a compliment to these rougher materials, soft tactile fabrics and delineated pieces fill up the room, creating a sense of softness and intimacy amid stark materials.
Photo credit: Fran Parente and Christian Møller Andersen
Photo credit: Fran Parente and Christian Møller Andersen
Studio MK27 located in the chaotic city of São Paulo was founded in the late 70’s by architect Marcio Kogan and today is comprised of 40 architects and various collaborators worldwide.
Kogan is an honorary member of the AIA (American Institute of Architecture), a Professor at Politecnico di Milano and on the board of the Museum Of Art of São Paulo (MASP) and the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology (MUBE). He was considered by Época magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential persons in Brazil, is part of “Wallpaper’s 150 Famous for 15 Years”, and came in 39th in Dezeen’s Hot List 2017. He leads a team of architects who, for the most part, have been working with him for over a decade.
The team, coordinated by four directors, constitutes three main squads. Diana Radomysler, Marcio’s partner since the 90s, is the author of the interior design projects and coordinates its team. Partners since the beginning of the 2000s, Renata Furlanetto and Suzana Glogowski direct the architecture team and sign most of the designs. The architect Mariana Simas, a partner since 2008, is the executive director leading the new projects, human resources, finance and communications teams.
The architects of the team, great admirers of the Brazilian modernism generation, seek to fulfil the task of rethinking and giving continuity to this iconic architectural movement. The projects of Studio MK27 place value on formal simplicity and are elaborated with extreme care and attention to detail.
Since 2001, when he started a co-creation and cooperative work system at the office, studio mk27 has won more than 250 national and international awards, such as IAB (Institute of Brazilian Architects), São Paulo Architectural Biennial, WAF, Architectural Review, Dedalo Minosse, Record House, Leaf, D&AD, Spark, Barbara Cappochin, Iconic, AZ, Buenos Aires Ibero-american Architectural Biennial, Wallpaper Design Award and Prix Versailles. MK27 represented Brazil at the Venice Biennale of 2012.
Kogan and the directors have lectured and workshopped at the Royal Academy of Arts, AIA, Société Française des Architectes, Clubovka, FAUUSP, Mackenzie, FAAP, Politecnico di Milano, Mantova, Porto Academy, Verona, Valencia, South Florida, Rice, Texas, Cornell and Yale universities among others. In 2025 Studio mk27 will represent Brazil at Expo Osaka, designing the new edition of the pavilion.
To discover other projects awarded the BLT Built Design Awards 2023, please visit the award’s website.
