25 michigandesign.com Homeowners often gripe about living in tight, confined spaces, but sometimes the problem is just the opposite: a wideopen floor plan that begs to be compartmentalized without sacrificing its airy feeling. That was the task faced by Arturo Sanchez andBarry Harrisonof Art | Harrison Interiors when they were hired to design a sprawling 3,300-square-foot contemporary condo in a Chicago high-rise in the posh Gold Coast section on the city’s near north side. The views of the skyline from the 11th floor are breathtaking, particularly at night. But arranging the space to make it more livable for the owners was their chief challenge. “There were no square rooms in the condo,” Harrison says. “The feeling was very loft-like. “With that open floor plan, we had to create a dining room, a living room, and a family room, all in one big open space,” he explains. “We also had to warm it up, so we used a soft, muted palette,” Sanchez says. “In the den, we warmed it with darker colors.” “As an architect, I’m drawn to open spaces, but for practical livability purposes, I understood why Barry and Art wanted to break it down into distinct spaces,” says Adrienne Brown, who shares the condo with her husband, Jonathan Marcus, who’s employed in the financial sector. She founded her own architectural firm, AKB Works, in Chicago in 2015. The two give high grades to the designers. “Probably the most incredible thing they did was turning this enormous space into three spaces,” Brown says.
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