The project by Deltastudio for a villa amid the Lazio hills, immersed in the landscape and in balance between present, past and future. A work, an artifact with contemporary proportions that breathes in and reinterprets time and the history of the place.
A villa immersed in the landscape designed by Deltastudio, an architectural firm founded in the province of Viterbo by Dario Pompei, in collaboration with Valerio Galeone and Saverio Massaro. Linear volumes and finishes, different shades of gray. A centuries-old chestnut grove surrounding it, rigid and geometric proportions, a metal structure that describes and frames the landscape.
The heritage
In front of it, surrounded by greenery, is Villa Farnese. One of the greatest examples of Renaissance architecture dating from the mid-16th century, when Vignola had the foresight to decide to change the original design - a defensive pentagon with five angular bastions - into a palace with Renaissance proportions, a summer residence for the cardinal and his court. An apparently insignificant gesture when looking at it today, which however helped to mark the history of a new way of conceiving, interpreting and designing living in the landscape: architecture finally opens up to the context, it reinterprets it and rewrites it at once. Large terraces, loggias and openings overlook the view of the Lazio hills, finally placing the landscape at the center of the project.
Aware of the value and heritage of this gesture, Villa Elena stands amid vegetation, resting on the slope facing the town of Caprarola. The intimate meeting point of a young couple, a family with two small children, who saw, in an old agricultural warehouse, the potential for their dream home. A former unfinished volume on two levels, consisting of a basement and a workshop on the upper floor. A functional structure, voiceless in its relationship with the context, almost abandoned while waiting to be converted.
Living the landscape
Thus, Deltastudio puts back together the fragments of a centuries-long story, designing a home in harmony with the context. Solid and void, openings and closings: every volumetric cut is the result of a compositional study of views that frame the landscape. From the terraces to large windows to small openings that, like canvases waiting to be painted, investigate the relationship between man and nature.
On the outside, a metal structure designs space almost like a thin frame, with the same proportions of the living volume, emptying it of its mass. A compositional expedient, a metal trace that frames the landscape adjusting lights, shadows and reflections.
A contemplative quality of the outdoor space, with surfaces and finishes capable of welcoming nature without taking possession of it. A dialogue between matter and vegetation, where the wall surfaces become the scenic backdrop of the external space.
Inside, wide, minimal spaces that open up to the landscape. The view of the town from the living area, the view of the park from the sleeping area. Horizontal surfaces, light and matter carved between indoor and outdoor spaces, finishes and textures that are simple and refined at the same time.
The smooth surface of the steps draws parallel lines, just like the large wooden block that hides and separates functions, in a design of space capable of including furnishing elements as integral parts of the volume.
A silent project, respectful of the context. A space aimed at contemporary living, in the reinterpretation and rewriting of the landscape, between past charm, present inspirations and future visions.
CREDITS
Project name: Elena
Architecture Firm: deltastudio
Website: http://www.deltastudioarchitecture.com/
Contact e-mail: info@deltastudioarchitecture.com
Project location: Caprarola (VT) – Italy - 01032
Year of completion: 2020
Gross building area: 290 sqm
Photo credits: Simone Bossi
Photographer’s website: http://www.simonebossi.it/photographer/
