Casa Mari

Casa Mari is part of a refurbishment project that the architects Lorenzo Pio Paladino and Maria Lucia D’Alessio undertook at the request of twin sisters. The sisters shared a common goal: to transform their ancestral home into two distinct apartments on the ground and first floors, resulting in the Casa Mari and Casa Livia designs.

Spanning a single level, the 165-square-metre three-bedroom apartment includes two bathrooms, a spacious living room, a kitchen, a studio and a laundry area. The pièce de resistance is the generous terrace that offers panoramic views of the picturesque Molisean landscape and the serene Adriatic Sea.

Casa Mari departs from traditional architectural norms. It abandons the conventional reliance on doors and corridors to separate daytime and nighttime living spaces, opting instead for an open, flexible design that fosters interaction and fluidity. Here, "Functional Furniture" and non-primary uses take on the role of spatial organisers, subtly delineating boundaries within the open-plan environment.

The heart of the apartment revolves around two central volumes. The primary one houses a fireplace and a built-in storage with TV screen. The secondary volume serves as a dedicated office space and houses the laundry facilities.

The living room is an expansive, open space that overlooks and opens up to the outdoor terrace. Warm exposed wooden joists have been incorporated within the original double-height space, effectively creating an additional room for the apartment situated above.

While the kitchen isn't directly facing the living room, it maintains an open connection, and its low units, which do not reach the ceiling, establish a seamless connection between the two spaces. The extra-large concrete-like ceramic tiles also play a key role in unifying the various functions within the living area. Concealed bedrooms are located behind the fireplace volume and accessed through a long built-in storage wardrobe, a solution that eliminates the necessity for standard doors while emphasising the continuous flow of the living space.

A soothing colour palette of white and grey, with touches of natural oak, imbues Casa Mari with a sense of calm and tranquillity.

Key elements such as wall units, the fireplace, the office, and smaller furniture items are the expression of a bespoke design approach aimed at achieving architectural continuity and coherence while accommodating the evolving needs of modern living spaces.