L House

This project involved an existing two-storey building set in a small private park. The design is an operation of addition and remodelling, whose end result is not exclusively the sum of its parts, but their ability to act as multipliers: of space, of configurations/possible uses, of the relationships that each element establishes the others and with the surrounding open space.
The idea starts from the belief that architecture cannot be limited to physical volume, but necessarily involves open and interstitial spaces: a landscape project.
The project reappropriates interstitial spaces by “infiltrating” hybrid components between architecture and landscape: the large “pier”/terrace becomes the main element of mediation between inside and the outside, a sort of childhood memory of a “tree house”.
Inspirations for the design came from images of the hermitage of D’Annunzio and the typical “trabocchi” of the Adriatic: filiform fishing machines straddling the land and water, stretching from the coast to the sea in search of open water and the landscape.
The fascination with these works of architecture derives from their condition as machines. They possess the skeletal mechanical structure of machines and the essential qualities of the “mechanism”. They have evolved out of the skills of the fishermen/farmers who built them. From architecture they borrow the ability to create space using minimal elements, like cornices framing the landscape.
Employing the same strategies the building is designed as a machine that captures the surrounding park and introjects it into the interior: glazed surfaces, bodies projecting out between trees, the operability of interior partitions.
They are minimum elements, lightweight structures that overlap or come up alongside the original building.
All additions are designed as recognizable elements that respect the original building. They are distinguished in their materials (steel roof terrace/pier etc.; wood_ external paths, dépendance, etc.) and forms.
The primary tool of composition is the weave: steel blades woven into the structure of the pier/terrace; sequences of laminated wood that define the open space at the uppermost level; the wood surface (cumarù) of the outdoor paths folds to design the form of the volume of dépendance.

CREDITS

• Architectural Design: Giovanni Vaccarini Architetti

• Client: Private Client

• Location: Giulianova (Teramo), Italy