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Collection by Diana Budds

A Mondrian-Inspired NYC Apartment

Taking cues from Piet Mondrian's iconic Broadway Boogie Woogie painting, architect and critic Joseph Giovannini recasts a New York City studio apartment.

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Mondrian's piece interprets the rhythm of New York—music from the 1940s, the street grid, and overall pace—and Giovannini sought to capture the same elements in the apartment.
Mondrian's piece interprets the rhythm of New York—music from the 1940s, the street grid, and overall pace—and Giovannini sought to capture the same elements in the apartment.
There aren't great views to the outside, so Giovannini made an interior "view" using architectural elements. "With a budget of only $15,000, I had to be strategic, and using sheet rock and plywood, worked off the existing beams and columns to create light alcoves that 'broke the box' by suppressing its corners," he says. "The idea was to expand space, and I did so by 'architecturalizing' light—that is, bringing light into space, redefining the space simply with strip fluorescents."
There aren't great views to the outside, so Giovannini made an interior "view" using architectural elements. "With a budget of only $15,000, I had to be strategic, and using sheet rock and plywood, worked off the existing beams and columns to create light alcoves that 'broke the box' by suppressing its corners," he says. "The idea was to expand space, and I did so by 'architecturalizing' light—that is, bringing light into space, redefining the space simply with strip fluorescents."
"I wanted to activate the whole space with these colors," says Giovannini noting that from every angle in the petite 425-square-foot studio, one can spy the accents. "The painting 'paints' itself as you move around and interacts with the space."
"I wanted to activate the whole space with these colors," says Giovannini noting that from every angle in the petite 425-square-foot studio, one can spy the accents. "The painting 'paints' itself as you move around and interacts with the space."
Sliding doors disguise the small Pullman kitchen. "Painting the sliding doors meant that my daughter could paint and repaint the apartment just by positioning the doors into new combinations," says Giovannini.
Sliding doors disguise the small Pullman kitchen. "Painting the sliding doors meant that my daughter could paint and repaint the apartment just by positioning the doors into new combinations," says Giovannini.