Between history and modernity: a spatial and material dialogue in a rural court.
The new home has been built into a section of the barn of an agricultural court at the gates of Verona, nearthe river Adige. The project’s leitmotif is a spatial and material dialogue between history and modernity,and it is also characterized by the great care taken in terms of environmental sustainability. In addition tothe use of technical devices and systems for efcient energy, special attention has been given to the surrounding territory and landscape in the use of materials and design choices.
Together with the building, the surrounding garden has also been redesigned and is now an integral part ofthe house.The focal element of the garden and the house is a magnolia tree, preserved upon the clients' request. Bordered by a square black fowerbed, in contrast to the stone fooring on which the pool is set, the tree is theprotagonist of the outdoor space and perfectly dialogues with the house: the shadow of its foliage is projected at sunset on the stone façade and is visible from all rooms.
The plaster has been detached on the façades, so as to bring the river pebbles into view which form thestructure’s load-bearing walls.On the front towards the garden, a large arch has been reopened as a reminder of the site’s historical agricultural function, making it the fulcrum around which the spaces of the house are distributed. A large reardoor frames the masonry arch, becoming a threshold and an element of dialogue between the interiorspace and the garden.
The front facing the courtyard is characterized by a glass façade with wooden uprights that recalls, in acontemporary way, the wooden walls typical of barns found in local rural courts.The materials of the façades are traditional and typical of rural architecture around Verona: on the façade,river pebbles are grafted on modern frames in Biancone, local stone from Lessinia and the monolithic elements that house the larch windows.
The house is set out across three foors and all levels engage with the space at the full height of the livingroom. The ground foor, distinguished by a Vicenza stone pavement, welcomes guests into a large livingarea and a library with brick freplace; the upper foors, perceived as a wooden volume hanging from theceiling, contain the bedrooms.
The birch plywood cladding designs and defnes the interior space, marking a clear distinction between thediferent sections of the home.
