In Bologna there is a 1950s building called "Residenza ai Pini", the work of the surveyor Enrico Schiavina. Seventy years later, his granddaughter - architect Martina Gaiba of the MpiuG studio - merged two flats inside it into a single top-floor apartment. That is not a detail for the gallery caption. It explains why not one original element was demolished.

The exposed brick, the concrete and the ribbon windows stayed. That is the opposite of what happens here to every flat of that generation: the first thing through the door is the sledgehammer, and the first thing to go is whatever made the building recognisable. Here the decision was to work with what was there, not against it.

The fireplace as the apartment's axis

The fireplace is the visual and symbolic centre, finished in a brushed dark bronze tone that then reappears on the switches and controls throughout the home. The living area is in light grey tones, with a floor-to-ceiling black bookcase and a floor lamp with a plant-fibre shade. This is where the three materials that recur everywhere are introduced: thermally treated oak, lime on the walls, and bronze.

A dining room that is not afraid of colour

Next to the living room stands a dark wooden table with six chairs upholstered in deep blue. Above a lacquered electric-blue sideboard hangs an early twentieth-century painting in Secessionist style - and the project's entire palette is drawn from it: blue tones, muted greens and an old gold. Two brass wall lights and blue-and-white porcelain vases close the composition.

The kitchen, personal and efficient

The kitchen deliberately contrasts with the dining room - cabinets in graphite grey, an island with stainless steel and dark wood surfaces, the fridge hidden behind lacquered panels. The By-me Plus smart home system controls the lighting and appliances through discreet wall controls that fit into the design instead of sticking out of it.

The bedroom as a refuge

A black canopy bed, grey striped wallpaper, a painting above the headboard. Brown velvet textiles, reading lights in brushed bronze, neutral cushions. The system adjusts the lighting by itself according to the time of day. The bathroom connects to the bedroom through a passage lined with the same wallpaper - a move that makes the transition invisible.

A bathroom with a freestanding tub

A freestanding tub with soft lines, a floor-mounted chrome tap, a vertical towel radiator. Taupe tiles and marble around the basin - materials that reach back towards the building's own era instead of pretending the apartment is new.

The child's room and the television room

The child's room has an upholstered headboard in navy, red cushions with floral and bird motifs, and a built-in shelf arranged by colour. The television room is the freest part of the apartment: a floor-to-ceiling shelf that hides the television behind the books, two pale pink armchairs, a zebra-print stool and a sofa in multicoloured upholstery of blues, pinks and golds - the same Secessionist palette, only loud.

The terrace as a hanging garden

A spiral staircase leads to a terrace with neutral sofas and armchairs surrounded by dense vegetation. The security cameras are built in so that they cannot be seen - the same logic as with the switches.

What did we actually learn from this apartment? Nothing about budget, because it was not published, and nothing that transfers directly into a Skopje flat. But one decision travels anywhere and costs nothing: somebody paid attention to what the building had before deciding what to put in it. That is the part most often skipped here - and the only one that cannot be bought later.