The “urbanism” of lofts is another thing that can be tricky.
The loft in Venice is adjacent to a bus station and the
open, unused balcony didn’t seem like much of an oppor-
tunity given such surroundings. Our Los Angeles studio
decided to extend the living room onto the balcony, creat-
ing a combined indoor-outdoor space that leads one to
the other, but we added a green wall at the end of the
balcony as a buffer from the neighboring bus station. Our
client had the idea of laying artificial turf in the space. We
were skeptical of synthetic grass, but we researched the
concept, even found a sample that matched the lawns of
her native South, and decided to go for it. Now, the eye is
drawn immediately to this lush green outdoor area upon
entering the apartment. The terrace, surrounded and
dotted by plants, looks like an idyllic stage set lodged
somewhere between nature and artifice.