A magazine dedicated to compact interiors

A cartoon-inspired flat 65 m² in the lagoon 65 m² Venice, Italy Retro-contemporary Federico Mascotto

This Guided Tour is from Sloft Edition 02.

Marc Bagarry and his husband Pierre-Yves live between Paris, the Crozon peninsula and Venice. After holidaying on several occasions in the City of Canals, Marc was struck by the slightly fanciful idea of settling down there. He talked through his plans with a friend already living in Venice, who eventually sent him a real estate listing. It was love at first sight. "We visited the apartment, saw the terrace, the magnificent views, and we fell in love. We did visit a second one afterwards, though, just to be sure that our search was really over!" explains Marc. In its initial state, however, the place was quite simply... uninhabitable. "It was an attic. We had to undertake long procedures and extensive renovations to create a space worthy of being called a home. It was a real adventure, a total creation from start to finish!" Along with its share of difficulties in respecting the architecture of the city, making sure to meet seismic building codes, the list goes on...

Starting with a blank slate, the couple was able to determine how to divide up the space. The idea? A living room big enough to have friends stay with them, but calm and cozy "when it’s just the two of us". In short, a homey and intimate apartment. On the design front, Marc and Pierre-Yves enlisted the help of two friends: Federico Masotto, architect and designer and Vava Dudu, a multidisciplinary artist. "I crossed paths with Vava Dudu one day and she quickly became a close friend. I asked her if she wanted to work with me on this project, and she accepted. I was excited to show her around the city. She is a visionary, a dazzling artist."

Together, they gave free rein to their imaginations, imposing no limits. "It was fun! The least we can say is that we really went all out when it came to choosing the colors..." Marc took inspiration from the illustrations of Moebius, a cartoonist he is very fond of, in order to create a quirky and phantasmagorical world. "Moebius notably published a book called Celestial Venice, which I find so beautiful and colorful. I started from there, with the idea of fully immersing ourselves in the colors and illustrations. There really is something cartoonish about this place. It’s very arty, very pop..." Dotted around the apartment are drawings painted by hand by Vava Dudu, color gradients thought out and implemented by Federico Masotto, at times reminiscent of Moebius’ work, sometimes of the nearby lagoon. In sum, a joyful and lively creation, just like its owners, and endlessly Instagrammable @bagaribaldipenthouse.