A house in the green - Luca Zanaroli (Carovigno/Puglia)
In the Apulian countryside between Carovigno and Ostuni, there is a unique house immersed in a landscape characterized by dry stone walls and ancient olive trees. This architectural project, designed by architect Luca Zanaroli, celebrates the combination of modernity, design and respect for nature, integrating perfectly into the rural context of Puglia.
The house is conceived as an intimate refuge, where one can live and work away from the city, maintaining a strong connection with the surrounding environment. The existing olive trees were not uprooted, but enhanced as an integral part of the project, providing shade and natural ventilation. The internal and external spaces dialogue in a fluid continuity, creating a welcoming and immersive environment.
The architectural volumes, simple and compact, develop around the trees, following their shadows and integrating into the landscape. The external walls, plastered with white lime and covered with dry stone recovered from the excavations, evoke the local construction tradition. The large windows promote a constant dialogue between inside and outside.
The interiors, designed to ensure comfort and simplicity, feature walls in light gray pigmented lime, which mitigate the intense light and create a relaxing atmosphere. The custom-made furnishings, made by local artisans in brown oak wood and natural iron, combine tradition and modernity. Outside, a living room with fireplace and a dining area under a centuries-old olive tree allow you to fully experience contact with nature.
The swimming pool, covered with dark materials, is designed to reflect the surrounding landscape, emphasizing the dialogue between artifice and nature. The interventions on the greenery have favored native species to integrate the construction into the natural context.
This project represents an example of how architecture, design and sustainability can coexist in harmony with the landscape, creating a house that enhances the unique beauty of the Apulian countryside.
For more information on Architettura Urbana: Website: https://www.architetturaurbana.eu/ Instagram: / architettura_urbana Production by: @ArchitetturaUrbana Photography: Gerta Collaku of @UrbanaProduction Filming and editing: Segato Lorenzo of @UrbanaProduction
APULIA EXCLUSIVE HOUSES Design, renovation and sale of trulli, villas with swimming pool and masserie Website: https://www.apuliahouses.com/it/ Email: [email protected] Tel: + 39 389 5114196 Headquarters: Via Damiano Chiesa, 19 72012 Carovigno (BR) Instagram: / apuliaexclusivehouses Facebook: / apuliaexclusivehouses
ARTE LEGNO DI ANTONIO MARTINA Wooden windows and custom-made furniture Email: [email protected] Tel: +39 368 570727 Headquarters: Francavilla Fontana, Italy Instagram: / arte_legno_francavilla Facebook: / about_details
The house is located in the Apulian countryside,
between Carovigni and Ostuni,
in a piece of land characterized
by the classic dry walls,
by these centuries-old olives,
sometimes millennia-old,
by the large chimes.
The fundamental feature of this context
is the light, the light that filters
through the chimes of the trees,
which filter the light of the sun
and project it on the red Apulian land.
My clients asked me to make their house
while maintaining the atmosphere
that they found in this particular context
The idea was, of course,
to maintain as much as possible
the relationship with nature.
So this house had to be
in some way fluid,
open to the outside.
Nature had to absolutely
be part of the architecture,
enter the interior of the architecture.
The thing that most characterized
the architectural composition
and layout of the house
was that of maintaining
the existing trees
without having to cut down any tree
or move any tree.
So we can say that the project
developed around the trees themselves,
making them an integral part.
So not only was it an essential link for me,
but it also became
a fundamental element of the project.
You access the building
through an entrance
that then distributes
the various parts of the house.
And already from a first approach
to the house,
you can perceive through the house
the continuing countryside
that extends.
You enter this living area,
wide and widely glazed,
shaded by a large olive tree,
where a large walled sofa
facing the countryside
and towards the pool area.
Connected to this living area,
connected by a large opening,
there is the kitchen
facing the west,
a kitchen with a large lunch table,
made of brown oak
and natural iron,
made by local artisans.
Next to this block
is another block,
very simple, linear,
which basically contains
the bedroom.
The bedrooms are facing south.
These are also treated
with this coating
of pigmented lime,
light gray.
The choice of this color
compared to the white lime
on the outside
is intended to mitigate
the strong light
that enters the rooms,
in order to create
this more intimate
and relaxing effect
for the night area,
as well as for the bedrooms.
When you intervene in these contexts
and therefore create
a sort of artificialization
of the context,
a sort of violence
towards nature takes place,
a sort of wound
that must be resuscitated in some way.
You must essentially
find a re-application
with nature itself.
This happens
both by trying
to minimize the impact
of the building
in the context
and by reusing
as much as possible
local materials,
even materials
that come from the same excavation
sites, for example.
The materials used in this house
are natural materials
for the blocks, let's say,
treated with lime,
so natural lime.
As far as
some parts of the house are concerned,
these have been completely
covered with stone
that has been extracted
from the excavations to make the pool
and the foundations.
The concept is precisely
to place a natural element
which has the function
of filtering the light
but also of creating
these effects of light and shadow
and therefore create
simple and monochromatic
surfaces on which
light and shadow can
reflect and essentially
make the building vibrate,
so they always make it alive.
Together with Giuseppe Tricarico,
a landscape architect
at the Paz studio,
the interventions on green
spaces have been
necessary
to accompany
the insertion of the building
into the existing landscape,
so native
plant species have been used,
not typical of
a garden situation,
but more than any other species
found spontaneously
in the countryside.
The pool itself has been designed
in such a way that it integrates
delicately into the context
using dark colors
that could reflect
and reverberate the natural elements
that surround it,
in a sort of game of reflections
that highlights the relationship
between artifice and nature.
So the realization
of these external spaces
are nothing more than elements
aimed at
the search for the maximum
integration of the artificial environment
with the natural.
