This article was originally published on Domus 1092.

“How much can be eliminated from a system of objects, functions and symbols while keeping intact the idea of home and the comfort it offers us?” This is the question that Atomaa have been addressing for more than a decade. In the work of this Milan-based studio, which moves between projects at different scales, one thing that appears to remain constant is the idea of minimal living. Or as they prefer to call it, Micro Living. 

Aware of the controversial value of density – especially in a historic moment in which there is a huge gap between wages and property prices in Italy – they look at the intensity “of opportunities and happenings” as intrinsic to the city. So the latest challenge for Atomaa is even more complex: to turn a space of 21-square-metre into a home. 

In a building dating back to the 1920s, not far from Piazza Cinque Giornate in Milan, they have devised a series of environments with overlapping elements, tailor-made furniture and a limited palette of materials. All of which looks out, through two large windows, onto an internal courtyard inhabited by three magnolia trees. The first move was to relocate the bathroom away from the window, closer to the entrance. The door has been clad in mirror to make the space seem larger, while the interior is finished in red glazed tiles, Moroccan zellige. The living area opens up against the windows and here the functions are articulated by a series of tailor-made fittings in walnut, with moveable elements to enable different functions to be fulfilled as required, from moments of conviviality to study.

Opposite, placed against the wall of the bathroom is the kitchen, also made-to-measure and also in walnut, but combined with steel, with a worktop that can be concealed if necessary. The storage units have been kept below a metre so as to have greater opening at eye level. Closing the space, alongside the second window, are the bookcase and alcove that stand out against midnight blue walls. Creating continuity between the various spaces is the terrazzo flooring, with a white background interspersed with fragments of green marble, so large as to seem out of scale. So far, the tiniest is the name chosen for this small but precious dwelling.