RESTORATION OF AN OLD MEDITERRANEAN HOUSE

The restored building rises over an embankment on a panoramic position overlooking the Amalfi coast and the seaside towns of Minori and Maiori. The building is integral part of the complex settlement developing along the north access road to the ancient village of Ravello, marked by the towers and the medieval gate facing the little square Andrea Mansi. The structure is typical of local constructions and its building could be dated to 1200-1400. Its bottom, indeed, is a pretty thick masonry, made of typical materials of the site like pumice, clay and chalky rock, coming from local mines. The building looked like a ruin, with a vertical developed main body, a low-rise volume with four rooms (one of them underground and another partially collapsed) and two panoramic gardens on different heights. The façade has so a vertical aspect, defined by a tower placed side by the low-rise volume, on north-east, and by the gardens on south-west. The whole façade stands on a stone base which contains gardens’ embankments. The building is a beautiful trace of Mediterranean rural architecture, defined by soft vault shapes and the sequence of spaces on staggered levels (which followed ground morphology). The target of the realization was to requalify the estate by a new floorplanning, a new connection among the levels, a new arrangement of façades and attached gardens, and especially by the building and static improvement, resulting from its state of abandon. The restoration project also contributed to the improvement of the surrounding urban context.