'Everyday balance' in studio V+T's renovation

Formal simplicity in harmony with its history characterise this period building in Molfetta

by Malcolm Clark
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The project of Gianni Veneziano and Luciana Di Virgilio of architects veneziano+team, envisages the exceptional renovation of three floors of a historical building dating back to around 1850 (Casa Privata MDC) and situated in Molfetta near Bari in southern Italy. The area, behind the shipyards, grew up in around 1700, and is called 'camere nuove' (New rooms).

The original space had a traditional type layout with the classical 'corridor' leading into the rooms; the new architectural intervention reinterprets the spaces giving them a new function in relation to the needs of contemporary living.

The architectural route develops over three floors: the ground floor which includes the living area, communicating with the kitchen, bathroom and laundry; the first floor with the two bedrooms and bathroom; in the basement there is the living area and spa (jetted tub, Turkish bath, sensory shower and bath).

Entering the apartment you get a unique sense of “everyday balance”, it seems that the architecture seeks formal simplicity and merges with the history that the stone walls have accumulated over the years, with the materials and furniture, recreating a “creative perimeter” isolated by routine and in places also by reality.

The predominant materials are the unplastered concrete walls in the two reinforced concrete staircases laid to access the three floors; the digital mosaic which portrays graphically elaborated drawings and watercolours by Gianni Veneziano; the glass panes; the bleached oak for the floors and for the fitted furniture; finally the strong presence of the fairfaced stone on some walls and the tuff vaults of the lower floor.

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    Casa MDC 45

    Casa MDC

    Molfetta / Italy / 2011