Architect’s Statement: The unit has been organized around a patio with the function of central court around which the home’s life takes place ; this compositional logic allows a visual reciprocity between the different environments with many possible views.
The home is on three levels: the lower level is composed by service spaces and by an internal swimming pool, the main level contains a wide and fluid open space with the entrance, the living room, a bathroom, the circulation spaces, the kitchen and the dining room, all together without a too rigid functional distinction.
The upper level contains the bedrooms, two bathrooms and two terraces.
The living area and the kitchen-dining area are in direct contact each other and with the outside by means of a remarkable visual permeability, partially filtered, from the leafs of the bamboo plants in the center of the patio.
The centrality of this space is partly contradicted by the perimeter openings emphasized by centrifugal projection of some architectural elements stretched until to the extreme edges of the available area (a surface very limited compared to the volume allowed).
We gradually deconstructed the volumes and tried to get an architecture that could be slender with lighter elements towards the limits of the available area, like the wall that marks the main entrance’s axis becoming the long concrete beam suspended above the pedestrian access on the street.
The sleeping area on the first floor has a different attitude much more private with an “atmospheric” connotation due to its sensitivity to natural light changes and to the direct contact with the sky through the linear slots cutted in the roof.
The roof gardens soften the impact of the volume in the landscape and take a part in the insulation of the home.
The structure is a concrete frame and the perimetral walls are a multi-layered masonry to insulate the internal space as much as possible and compensate the heat dispersion through the wide glass surfaces of the home.
In general, during the design phase, the expressive language of this architecture was affected by the client’s preference for the ninety degrees angles and the flat surfaces, which has prompted designers to overcome the static nature typical of this initial setup through the strategic dislocation of the volumes, the use of suspended masses and shifted surfaces.
Then, during the construction, other choices of the same type have pushed decisively towards the total white option and towards the reduction of the materials used, which have been plaster for all vertical surfaces in combination with metal panels (ventilated walls made with aluminum panels – layered panels) and stone slabs , combined with floating wooden surfaces (accoja), for the external floorings.
From the point of view of energy, the purely technological solutions have been reduced as much as possible using only radiant systems (radiant panels) and solar systems; we wanted to use “low-tech” solutions, when possible, which could ensure the internal microclimate control in a passive way through the natural flow of fresh air from the green external areas.
Project Details:
Location: Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
Type: Residential – Houses
Area: 1194 sqm
Architects: Architettura Matassoni
