René Dlesk is an architect and you can tell by his living space. When he and his wife decided to transform their paneled apartment in Prague 5, he thought about it differently than is common when rebuilding housing estates. Although he removed all the superfluous partitions from the interior, he respected the original materials and did not want the masons to smooth out the unevenness that remained after the modifications.
“The masons were only supposed to clean them roughly, they were given the task of penetrating and whitewashing everything. In this case, I don’t mind the unevenness at all, I even like it. It’s an honest decoration and it’s free,” explains the architect of the RDTH studio René Dlesk, why during the renovation of the apartment he wanted all changes to be visible and distinguishable from the original constructions. He believes that the way in which historical monuments are approached today is also worthy of a fifty-year-old block of flats. But he did not discuss it with the masons.
“I hinted to them that I was interested in the contrast between the original building and the newly inserted elements, but I did not explain for a long time, because even then it would probably not be in line with their truth. I did not even explain to them why I do not mind the traces of the original construction interventions or removable walls. I understand that using this method in a block of flats is somewhat unusual,” he says.
Even the electricians and plumbers looked at him like an exotic when he wanted them to run the cables on the surface due to the Owners and Units Association regulation, which prohibits installing wiring directly into load-bearing walls or ceiling panels.
“We didn’t want to lower the ceilings with plasterboard soffits, where it is possible to hide part of the wiring. I consider height to be one of the most valuable values of a space. Everything is run on the surface, just like the original heating wiring. But I don’t mind. I like meaningful restrictions that simplify things for me decision-making and at the same time creates its own natural aesthetics,” explains the owner of the apartment.
Take a look at the transformed interior.
