Casa Riemersa by Davide Volpe Architetto

Location: Biella, Italy
Year: 2013
Photo courtesy: Davide Volpe Architetto
Description:

I researched the synthesis of the reason with the fantasy taking a long period of time while I thought over at the form of the location and how to handle the dynamics before to give myself the pleasure of the architecture. After having bought this part of factory no longer in use which was a part of the old industrial compound of Fila Sport, which has a particular form that reminds the wings of a butterfly in aerial projection, the first task has been to make re-emerge the north side that has been underground for decades.

At the end of the excavating the facade presented a sort of layering and overlapping of materials that we’ve carefully kept and preserved after an accurate activity of renewal that reminds more an archeological intervention than an architecture one. The anti-fire tank has been transformed in a swimming pool, the old drain in stone has become a barbecue, the kitchen cupboard has become the wardrobe of my children Nina and Iago.

Inside the glass walls with one light establish a continuous dialogue with the inside and outside through a path articulated by a library that develops in 50 meters (160 feet) long, constructed with old building site’s boards, origin of a childhood memory that takes as example the Osvaldo Cavandoli’s line during the moment of expectation of the evening Carosello, extraordinary magic moment of that period.

The shades of the walls, of the ceiling and the floor it’s unique in order to form a big and neutral container of objects of art and of everyday life. The light is an essential complement, it penetrates and constantly transforms the volumes giving variable sensations.

The creative process, taking in consideration that we’re talking about architecture, has not been exempted from conflicts with reality, but the main element has been functionality that cannot be deprived of the sensibility of the creator in order not to take the risk to be simply a construction. A house thought and constructed for a peaceful family life, empty of decorations and colors, elements that my children will be able to fulfill in the next years to come.