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House Tour: Inside a Modern Cape Town Apartment Filled With a Collection of Contemporary Art

See how world renowned architects ARRCC and OKHA create a modern, minimalistic space fit for an African art connoisseur

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By House & Garden South Africa | May 27, 2024 | Architecture

Located near the V&A Waterfront’s Silo Precinct in Cape Town, South Africa, this minimalist haven was designed for an aesthete with a growing collection of African art.

Photography by Niel Vosloo.

ARRCC and OKHA collaborated on this project titled Parama and drew inspiration from the location’s iconic surroundings that include architectural landmarks, the Zeitz MOCAA museum, the waterfront marina and views of Devil’s Peak.

Photography by Niel Vosloo.

Using a variety of materials, textures and patterns ARRCC added character to what is otherwise a sleek and uncluttered minimalist living space. The apartment hosts remarkable features of sensory layering that does not impose on the clean, calm minimalist space.

Photography by Niel Vosloo.

This includes a champagne aluminium-clad kitchen which appears as a unified insertion within the larger white interior and other architectural interior details like ribbed marble finishes, fluting on the base of the dining room table and the chamfered edge of the tabletop.

Photography by Niel Vosloo.

For OKHA the design of the furnishings was about creating sculptural forms. The Parama pied-à-Terre features custom furnishings, such as a monolithic limestone coffee table in the sitting area which anchors and articulates the spatial experience of the apartment. The bespoke drinks cabinet fit with asymmetrical doors and mirrored surface expresses the level of detailing that goes into the minimalist aesthetic.

Photography by Niel Vosloo.

To complete the look and feel of a minimalist art gallery the spaces in the apartment are designed using variations in materials, texture and pattern such as joinery in the living spaces, sandstone in the bathrooms and an aesthetic that maintains the serenity of the living space while acting as a canvas for the owner’s art collection and collective beauty of the surrounding environment.

Photography by Niel Vosloo.