Courtyard house of stone | Studio 4e

In this splendid Sicilian villa, the architects have combined a rigorous, rational approach to the project with the expressive freedom typical of organic architecture.

Nature and the relationship to the landscape play a fundamental role in this work. The designers have managed to enhance the relationship between inside and outside through a careful dialogue with the pre-existing environmental context.

Starting from an existing structure built in the 1980s, which was never completed and ultimately abandoned, the architects have worked by subtraction, eliminating non-significant architectural parts and restoring the building to its essential components, enhancing the plastic and spatial qualities of the existing building. The spaces have been completely reconfigured according to the needs of the new owners, defining a new architectural image starting from the search for a refined visual balance between opacity and transparency which is clearly shown in the dynamic asymmetry of the new facades.

The entrance to the house is reached by a garden walkway which connects to a driveway built into the greenery. The architects of Studio 4e have taken particular care to redesign the landscape of the villa, tracing new paths and establishing links that enhance the topography of the place.

Particularly striking is the stone staircase, carved into expertly restored calcarenitic limestone, which gradually reveals the inner courtyard which provides access to the house. The house is divided into two levels: the ground floor contains the living area and a cosy guest room, and the first floor is a living space made up of a landing, bedrooms, and two large terraces from which the garden and the suggestive Sicilian landscape can be admired. The interior spaces are notable for their extraordinary natural brightness. The living environment on the ground floor, illuminated by a long wall made of large sliding glass doors, ensures continuity between the interior space of the house and the portico, which in summer becomes the natural continuation of the living area. The materials used have been carefully selected, evaluated for their texture, shape and light-reflecting capability.

“Improving the architectural and environmental quality of an area”, say the architects, “is an ethical act in which we deeply believe because we are convinced that the care and beauty of a place generate harmony, involving everyone who comes into contact with it”.