VSF House | Marco Bernini

Historical and architectural context

In 1906 Giovanni Rey acquired the palace and in 1907 presented to the municipality of of Turin the first Fenoglio’s project for the construction of a big luxurious hotel.
The operation is part of the process of urban renewal, that took place in the old medieval center of Turin at the beginnig of 1900. The motivation was the reorganization of hygienic systems and buildings that led to the repossession of the central area of the city by the entrepreneurial middle class. The medieval character was trasformed from the architectural and city planning point of view.
The building is characterized by a facade with great architectural value with Art Nouveau decorations, such as the beautiful bowindows in the corners. It was one of the first structures built with concrete.

Description of the intervention

The intervention in San Francesco d'Assisi street is a conservative restoration and involves the entire second floor - 700 sqm - 20th century Art Nouveau building, of the architect Pietro Fenoglio. Before the renovation, there were public offices on the floor, but this function was not compatible with the structure of the building. The spaces of the various offices and various superfetations added over the time had completely denied the architectural value of the interiors of one of the first Art Nouveau buildings in Turin. The original big rooms were constructed with an innovative technology using concrete as main structure.
Marco’s project valorize the important structural and architectural characteristic of the building.
The intervention has a strong spatial and architectural meaning, while the interior is designed with a big attention to detail.
The spaces were freed and returned to its original size because we wanted to show the beautiful beamed ceilings lowered.
The light becomes again the protagonist and it was amplified by the use of wood floors characterized by white lacquer surface.
The functionality of the apartments is guaranteed by "small architectures" into the rooms that contain stores, toilets and closets creating dynamic volumes and articulating the space full of light that is the protagonist of the project.
The plasticity of volumes is emphasized by the materials and by the range of colors: blacks, grays and white; different shades characterize the space that emphasize the artworks, the furniture and the design products that personalize the rooms.
In the apartment the children’s bedroom is realy particular space: there is a innovative structure of about 12 square meters on the top of the cube/ wardrobe that creates an unexpectedly high space, the kingdom where children dominate their surroundings. A bed and a library as a parapet can transform this space into a protected nest where the imagination reigns.

The loft is accurate in every detail: its metal structure is removable and reversible. The coating is made of MDF which surface has decorations obtained by numerical control machines and covered with a special scratch-resistant lacquer. The stair firmly linked to the internal structure on one of the sides of the cabinet is in metal and looks like a light folded sheet. The retractable doors conceal closets and dressing rooms.
The loft has a fully wired technology that is the media center of the house.
The new apartments needed a new connective common accesses: one entrance intended to ensure the representation without conflicting with the beautiful art nouveau stairs of the palace. It was simply decided to work with the light that, through bright blades, gently illuminates the access ensuring the safety and the functionality of the space.