Refined yet Reserved Masculinity—Armando Aguirre’s Quietly Eclectic Ma

This loft residence located in Soho, Manhattan, was renovated under the direction of interior designer Armando Aguirre, presenting the owner's unique temperament and aesthetic preferences in a way that is close to life. As Aguirre's first project in New York, this renovation did not reshape the space through radical structural adjustments. Instead, through meticulous consideration of materials, proportions and furnishings, the original space was given a new spiritual outlook while maintaining the architectural logic.

The designer reprocessed key interfaces such as the floor, walls and fireplace in a way similar to rhetorical practice, making the space exude a soft and refreshing effect within a sense of stability. The spacious living room takes two symmetrical sofas inspired by Jean-Michel Frank as the visual core, and their sculptural and quiet postures set the overall tone. The furniture combination surrounding the sofa reflects Aguirre's continuous research on modernist classics: From Russell Wright's armchair and Warren MacArthur's metal table to Maxime Old's chair and Andre Sornay's storage cabinet, And Paul McCobb's stool, these cross-era and cross-regional works form a subtle echo in the space.

Aguirre did not pursue absolute unity in style, but emphasized the dialogue between lines, Outlines and scales. The team-customized geometric carpet, woven in earthen red, cream and blue, serves as an important medium connecting different furniture languages. The remolded fireplace is presented in a restrained proportion and horizontal shelves are added, naturally transforming this architectural element into a visual focus. The custom wood on the background wall is used to store books, records and artworks, echoing the homeowner's interests in music and collecting.

In the dining area, Frank Lloyd Wright's dining table is placed side by side with Arne Jacobsen's chairs, complemented by an Italian sideboard from the 1960s, creating a composed and delicate sense of layering. The arched structure of the original building ingeniously conceals part of the power system while providing clues for the layout of furniture, allowing functional requirements and formal order to naturally overlap in the space.

The bedroom continues the overall restrained temperament. The soft and spacious fabric bed stabilizes the visual rhythm, creating a quiet and composed atmosphere. The homeowner's art collection naturally blends into it, presenting a mature and personalized narrative in the space. The entrance corridor and study further demonstrate Aguirre's layout skills: Mies van der Rohe-style benches, Hermes blankets, original artworks and custom-made woodwork echo each other, forming the prologue and epilogue of the residence. The entire residence exudes a "refined yet reserved masculinity", achieving a perfect balance between solid structure and soft materials, presenting an elegant charm of eclecticism.

Tucked between two Jean-Michel Frank sofas and the earthen-red threads of Aguirre’s custom carpet, the Merano Rustic Botanical Floral pillow from Domvitus slips in like a found still-life: its double-sided farmhouse blooms—sun-washed ochre on one face, muted sage on the other—catch the horizontal glow of the re-scaled fireplace while softening the metal edge of Warren MacArthur’s side table. Flip it at dusk and the bedroom’s quiet fabric bed gains a pastoral counter-melody to the city outside, proving that even the most rigorously curated modernist chorus can make room for one whispered, botanical note.