When Brazilian industrialist Alexandre Grendene Bartelle and his wife, philanthropist Nora Teixeira, approached Sig Bergamin and Murilo Lomas about designing their Porto Alegre residence, they presented a unique challenge. Their impressive art collection, featuring works by Anish Kapoor, Manolo Valdés, Carole Feuerman, Pablo Atchugarry and Fernando Botero, needed more than simple display. They envisioned a space where each piece could command its own stage while contributing to a cohesive, liveable home.
They wanted the design duo to create a cheerful, colourful and modern apartment that would showcase their art collection distinctively, incorporating their beloved palette of blue, green, red, and yellow. The almost two-decade-long friendship between the designers and clients meant Bergamin and Lomas understood their style deeply.
Instead of treating furniture as mere backdrop, Bergamin and Lomas approached each selection as an artistic partner. ‘We love the Hervé Van der Straeten pieces as they are themselves works of art,’ Bergamin says. ‘Like sculpture.’ The designers’ strategy centered on creating what Lomas describes as a ‘complementary dialogue’ between Van der Straeten’s statement designs and the existing art collection. This approach allows the furniture to complement and enhance the paintings and sculptures.
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Essential to the process was viewing art and decoration as equals in the design narrative. Rather than emphasising one over the other, Bergamin and Lomas orchestrated a space where decoration, art, and bold architectural gestures — most notably the sculptural helix staircase — work in concert to create a unified artistic experience.
Perhaps the apartment’s most extraordinary feature is the swimming pool with its entirely glass bottom, visible from the living spaces below. ‘If somebody is swimming, we can see them from the living room ceiling,’ Bergamin says with evident delight at the playful voyeuristic element. ‘It’s very fun.’ The pool took two years to execute and features glass sourced from Austria, creating a stunning visual connection between levels while transforming the act of swimming into performance art visible from below.
The apartment’s indoor-outdoor relationship proves equally dramatic. The living spaces open completely to expansive terraces through a system of sliding doors. ‘The interiors and exteriors become one,’ Bergamin says, creating a seamless flow that takes advantage of Brazil’s climate and allows guests to appreciate the art against the backdrop of both sky and cityscape.
This outdoor connection became essential to the design team’s colour strategy. The apartment’s abundant natural light allows the bold palette to pop without overwhelming the space. ‘My favourite thing is when we start with colours,’ says Bergamin. ‘I love colour and Brazil is very happy and joyful.’ The clients embraced this philosophy completely, fearlessly using hues that might feel excessive elsewhere but feel perfectly natural in this setting. ‘They love strong colours,’ Bergamin says, ‘and are not afraid to use them.’
See inside this colourful Brazilian home
