House in Muzzano | Davide Macullo Architects

Located at the edge of the old centre of the village of Muzzano, near Lugano, this house acts as a pivot, around which rotate the older buildings and the new residential quarter. The house is a cube, further divided into four smaller cubes. The plan has been informed by this pivotal idea and designed on a square geometry; a centripetal form emphasising the context. The location is strategic as the simple choice of the form of the building justifies the intention to build in this place. Through the molding of the land, the project becomes embedded in its context. This 'rootedness' of the house creates a living space that is divined for the inhabitant and his relationship with his surroundings. A reinforced concrete wall transforms, assembles, divides and delimits the land in order to create a mosaic of spaces and moments and serves to extend the sense of the internal and external spaces; a service entrance, a green courtyard, a pool terrace, a mineral garden, an internal space. The building is like a pavilion, set in a park, where you can approach and enter from many different angles. The intention is not to realise a house per se, but an enclosure that defines a piece of this park, as though it were a three dimensional portal to another world. Through the strength of the inherent geometry of the internal volume, one feels settled in its balance. It is a living organism that constantly morphs with the changes and colours of the surrounding landscape. It has an immediate connection to its natural surroundings without the need for intermediate spaces. Perched upon a concrete bank, the living space is orientated along its diagonal and relates perpendicularly to the contours of the land. Set towards the valley (the macro space) is a two-storey-high glazed cube. The orientation of the cube allows it to become a physical and climatic filter between the interior and the exterior, while the small openings towards the hills, the woods and the village (the micro scale) frame selected pieces of nature. The dualism of these two scales expand the perception of time and enrich the quality of the internal spaces. The square plan construction is divided into four cubes wherein the common vertex is the only internal structural element, ensuring maximum flexibility and adaptability for future use. This stems from the idea of building volumes that can be occupied easily by a variety of functions. In fact by adopting the principles of industrial typologies, besides the one central column every other internal dividing element can be removed (or others added) without changing the underlying relationship the house has with the context. In addition, the centrally located technical space collects all the pipelines and conduits necessary to feed the artificial life of the house; another functional standard borrowed from our industrial relations. The interior spaces are designed as open plan. Formal internal divisions that would have resulted in an intermediate scale are avoided through the intelligent use of furniture pieces. The influx of natural light, along with the choice of artificial lighting, are controlled so as to amplify as much as possible the sense of the great outdoors. The glass cube is the focus of the composition and is the primary volume between the landscape and the domestic environment. The aim of the project is to create a balanced, relaxing place, where the individual, placed between two conditions, can find themselves removed from the responsibilities of everyday life, in a dreamlike space, changeable at will. The suggestive harmony and sense of balance of the cubic form induces this meditative state. Equipped with motors that allow all the sides and the roof open and close, the large glass cube has proved to be a true 'machine for living', a sensory element for the inhabitants and the seasons. In summer it is a wide shaded porch and in winter, a receptacle for passive energy. The interior living space is characterized by its double height and by the traversing of the large glazed surfaces that appear to converge at the central column. Their illuminating materiality creates a game of reflections that enhance the sense of depth of the space. The house is made of two materials; reinforced concrete and brick, each used in a way that highlights, respects and exploits their natural qualities. Reinforced concrete is used for the large wall that ties the volume of the house to the land and recalls the presence, material and dimensions of the ancient stone terraces. The physical properties of facing brick make it ideal as cladding for the perimeter walls and its soft colouring communicates with the old plaster of the buildings of Muzzano. DESING PARTICIPATION: Giuditta Botta, Marco Strozzi, Domenico Lungo, Guido Medri, Carlo Schwitters