House with four columns
The lofty 19th century house stands in a narrow alley in front of a cemetery. The project pursued a certain sense of an absolute order.
The existing wooden structure was replaced with concrete and an unspoken grid redefined the geometry of the plan. The central core of the staircase, two triangular bathrooms on each level, four relatable living spaces, and a slightly curved corridor on the ground floor organise the necessary uses and hierarchies. Every room is conceived as a white perimeter punctuated with a concrete column in the very centre, establishing a certain order of programs, hinting a way on how to inhabit the space, making the space understandable. The given columns are architectural devices, not structural, and as such, they don’t touch the ceiling.
Each living room becomes an assembly of banal figures: the two blue doors, the practical marble surface, patches of tiles, movable cabinets, and windows facing opposite exterior scenarios. The exercise in materiality, bringing together wood, concrete, tiles and marble, seamless surfaces and patterns, felt necessary. The garden starts covered in white tiles and blossoms between the pre-existing perimeters of white walls.
Each elevation tells a different story. The front façade is austere, covered with banal white tiles, dominated by two tall doors, one pink and one blue. The side façade is defined by three thick painted lines, reflecting the inside structural composition. The nonfigurative garden façade is composed of two square windows and a drainpipe disposed within a nonconformist silhouette. The side wall of the neighbour is painted in dark blue, enhancing the autonomy of the piece.
