From Ancient Millstone to Home by D’Arc Studio
From Ancient Millstone to Home is a beautiful residence located in Valle D’Itria, Puglia, Italy, by Rosa Topputo of D’Arc Studio.
Description
We are in Apulia, in Itria Valley, an area in the heart of the region between the provinces of Bari, Brindisi, and Taranto. Expanses of olive trees, Trulli, and ancient farms characterize this rural landscape immersed in a red land. The region, characterized by the high use of local stone in the buildings, is the place where an equally characteristic dwelling rises, reflecting and emphasizing the surrounding environment, composed of expanses of olive trees alternating with burnt fields. The genuine land, rich in traditions, hosts a dwelling born around an old millstone dating back to 1875. The ancient place now becomes a dwelling, a place where you can stop and experience the immense landscape, in a close bond with nature and traditions. The project is signed by D’Arc Studio, a brand and an associated architecture firm founded by architects Rosa Topputo and Alessio Tommasetti. Right from the start, there was a special understanding between designers and clients who, on the same aesthetic wave, worked on a particular design for an environment that is, to say the least, unique. Simplicity, relationship with history and tradition, white lime and warm tones, connections with nature. These are the key points of the interior project. The old historic millstone is the fulcrum around which the project develops. The space, characterized by the white lime vault typical of the Apulian tradition, blends with the contemporary white stucco walls with which it creates a metric and chromatic game. The living room space is dominated by the presence of the sofa On The Rock by Edra, which with its organic shape creates an osmotic relationship between the interior and the external nature. The space, livable at 360 degrees, is characterized by two glass walls that duplicate the use of the environment itself: an intimate living room that looks towards the house but also a space that extends to the external view facing the glass walls of the room. And this is how an exchange between interior and exterior environment is created, contamination between the most contemporary design and the strong link with nature and history of the place. The glass windows frame the landscape like a painting. Each color, material, the texture is part of an overall plan that binds everything with a red thread: the close contact with nature. Even the furnishing details for the entire project do not impose themselves as protagonists but as discreet interventions with the aim of creating a dialogue with the surrounding environment. The prevalence of white, for example, gives greater attention to the garden and, similarly, in the dining room the soft colors, the delicate chairs of Vitra arranged around the table designed by D’Arc Studio and the discreet shapes create a focus towards the vault that characterizes the architecture as a true protagonist. The chromatic choice of materials is closely linked to the material one. The corten steel of the small tables in the Palmento room perfectly matches the warm tones of the leather armchair and the fabrics of the sofa. These shades of orange are linked to the red of the Apulian fields and to the tradition of the place, also expressed by the presence of the winepress, a key element, and fulcrum of the house. In fact, the project establishes a special link with the history of the place and marks the transition from the working environment to the residential one. In the whole project, the bridge between the ancient working tradition and the contemporary one is also marked by the strong collaboration with the local craftsmanship, a choice that wants to emphasize the genius loci of the place. The mastery of the local craftsmanship is a tribute to the local expertise and a further symbol of the transition between yesterday and today. The project is in evolution and foresees the construction of an outdoor bioclimatic greenhouse on the line of the same concept of deep connection with the territory and the history of the place.
Photography by Angela Florenzani for D0arc.Studio
Visit Rosa Topputo
- by Matt Watts
