House in Upper Bergamo | Edoardo Milesi & Archos
Minimal additions to an exclusive two-storey house in Upper Bergamo Bergamo / Italy / 2012
Minimal additions to an exclusive two-storey house in Upper Bergamo that dialogues with its challenging architectural history through transparencies, lightness and light, paradigms of boundless quality.
The project is about a building dating back to the Late Middle Ages, when it was a monastery. It then was converted into a student residence and, in the seventies, it was sold and divided into apartments.
Specifically, I had to deal scrupulously with the ‘remains’ of the original monastery, so as to mitigate the sense of boundary between open and closed areas and bring light into the deepest rooms.
First of all, the architecture needed to be made transparent again and the spaces, where people would be together in an atmosphere of conviviality, needed to be made fluid again. “We have identified four macro areas bound by a common thread that connects them all like a backbone of light: a 25-metre path along which functional spots follow one another, almost never divided by doors”.
The swimming pool-hammam can only be accessed directly from the fitness area behind the walk-in closet, through a hand-grooved ladder made of African Black Granite that creates an unusual scenic effect, as it goes into the pool. The relaxation area on the “raft” deck can be accessed through an automated wooden and steel walkway with a drawbridge. No structural changes were made to add the swimming pool, as it was made from the old rainwater collation tank inside the Roman walls. The part of the swimming pool under the deck can be inspected from the main staircase.
[IT]
Innesti minimali in un’esclusiva residenza di Bergamo alta, sviluppata su due livelli, che dialoga con la sua impegnativa storia architettonica attraverso trasparenze, leggerezza e luce, paradigmi di una qualità senza confini.
Il progetto si sviluppa in un edificio nato in epoca tarda medioevale come monastero, poi diventato studentato, ruolo svolto fino agli anni Settanta, quando è stato venduto e frazionato in unità abitative.
Nello specifico ho dovuto confrontarmi scrupolosamente con i 'fondi' dell'originario monastero per attenuare il senso del limite tra aree aperte e chiuse e portare luce nella profondità dei volumi.
La prima necessità è stata proprio quella di restituire massima trasparenza all'architettura e fluidità agli spazi tutti vissuti in modo conviviale. "Abbiamo individuato quattro macro aree dentro un'immaginaria linea connettiva che, come una dorsale di luce, le attraversa tutte: un percorso di 25 metri lungo il quale si snodano episodi funzionali quasi mai delimitati da porte”.
La piscina-hammam si raggiunge direttamente soltanto dall’area fitness organizzata dietro la cabina armadio, tramite una scala in nero d'Africa scanalato a mano che, con inconsueto effetto scenico, entra e si conclude nella vasca d'acqua, mentre l’accesso alla zona relax sul deck "zattera", è garantito da una passerella, in legno e acciaio, automatizzata a ponte levatoio. La piscina, senza necessità di modifiche strutturali, è stata ricavata in quella che era stata la cisterna di raccolta dell'acqua piovana all’interno delle mura romane, rendendola ispezionabile – nella porzione sotto deck –dalle scale condominiali.
Minimal additions to an exclusive two-storey house in Upper Bergamo that dialogues with its challenging architectural history through transparencies, lightness and light, paradigms of boundless quality. The project is about a building dating back to the Late Middle Ages, when it was a monastery. It then was converted into a student residence and, in the seventies, it was sold and divided into apartments. Specifically, I had to deal scrupulously with the ‘remains’ of the original...
- Year 2012
- Work started in 2011
- Work finished in 2012
- Status Completed works
- Type Apartments / Single-family residence / Interior Design / Lofts/Penthouses / Recovery/Restoration of Historic Buildings / Refurbishment of apartments
- Websitehttps://www.archos.it/en/archos/progetti/house-in-citta-alta/
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