Casa AB

Casa AB where tradition in volumetric composition merges with contemporary functionality. The project starts from the study of a nearby Palladian barchessa. The idea comes from the decomposition and recomposition of the volume of the ancient building, of which the volume, its orientation and above all the relationships of full and empty spaces are maintained.

The materials used for the construction are those linked to tradition, but also revised in a technologically current key. We are talking about fir and oak wood, bricks protected by a “skin” of cocciopesto, all integrated, to support the conceptualized forms, by concrete, a true element of modernity, used as a liquid stone that integrates well in these architectures. The main facade, facing south, is made up of a vertical partition perforated near the entrance and the kitchen front. The glass window behind, rotated towards the east, is an internal subdivision element, which does not interfere with the orientation and cleanliness of the facade. Here then the facade and the glass window become autonomous elements that interact with each other only through the space they enclose.

The setback of the same creates a double-height loggia that, as in all barchesse, acts as a filter and anticipation. Its inclination responds instead to the need to welcome the morning light, to the desire to open up to the countryside and to create a recessed space where necessary. It is an intermediate space, where indoor and outdoor merge to create a single space. And it is here that the contact between construction and landscape occurs, at the point where the boundaries of the built become more blurred. This connection is favored by the choice of Duoxima windows, in wood-aluminum, and Maxima in wood, with large windows; and by the harmonious dialogue of the different materials.

Photo by: Colin Dutton