An Urban Interior

Mathi is a village approximately 30 km from Turin where a family made up of a psycho-analyst, a doctor and two children has converted a 1920’s barn into a die that moulds their everyday life. After announcing a formal competition by invitation involving a number of under 40 Piedmontese architects, the clients appointed Turin-based practice Marc. Run by Michele Bonino and Subhash Mukerjee, the studio managed to incorporate residents’ input into a design without distorting the original shell.

By January 2012, the architectural project was complete and the regeneration process triggered within the perimeter of the old farm buildings started — imaginarily and concretely — to affect the surrounding city. This project was based on a reflection on the concept of "living needs" linked to minimal requirements. It explores the relationship between people and space, and the ability to favour or negate a number of behavioural approaches in both private and public dimensions. “A person ought to realise that living in a space is a sacred action”, underlines client Davide Favero. “Living in a space with minimal heights is not the same as living in one with double or triple heights. The same applies to the furnishings, colours and all the other details.”   “The absence of internal doors except on the bathrooms clearly conveys the concept of a completely open place without protected areas to the children and those passing through the house”, continues Favero, “whereas privacy is guaranteed by the development and size of the property.”

This idea fuelled a play of overlapping domestic and urban dimensions, further exalted by the fragmentation of the residence, which deliberately reflects the stratifications built up over time. A sort of maze unfolds on three levels, with no boundaries except a carefully designed succession of routes and stopping places. The architects’ focus was on the section and they reinterpreted the Loos Raumplan in a succession of changing levels and heights to fit the new volumes into the existing ones.

The core feature of the interior is a staircase in perforated sheet metal, conceived as a void circumscribed by “walls” of books and large glazed surfaces overlooking the road. The irregular swimming pool on the upper level gravitates over the living area, announcing its physical presence when it detaches from the perimeter walls. The swimming pool also has external access and can be seen behind a large glazed wall. In winter, this becomes a greenhouse, with a positive impact on the microclimate of the house.

“Right from the start, we were told the design had to be self sufficient in terms of energy”, explains Subhash Mukerjee, “so we created a system of geothermal probes which exploit an old well shaft and adopted solar panels and photovoltaic units for heating and electricity.” A number of communal spaces orbit around the swimming pool and are used to show films and listen to music. The bedrooms are on the third floor.

The colour yellow, previously used by the architects in other projects, was applied here to highlight the excavation that allowed the addition of another level without compromising the original footprint of the building. “The yellow”, explains Michele Bonino, “is perfect in excavated areas because it reflects the light and favours expanded spatial perception.”

In the living area, a bench clad with green fabric virtually passes through the window to continue in a carpet of artificial grass outside. “The artificial lawn indulges the children’s need to play in a comfortable place and, at the same time, circumscribes the yellow amphitheatre that marks the main entrance to the house.” This space lends itself to spontaneous interaction between residents and neighbours while also acting as a link between the guest accommodation and a building recently purchased by the owners with a view to opening a B&B.
  The transparency of the building identifies a direct axis between house and road. The living room is an entrance which, in turn, becomes a square while, to the rear, musical instruments and books behind glass evoke an ultra domestic dimension. What may not seem a revolutionary form, although it does differ from standard Italian residential models, assumes importance here when its political motivations are grasped.

There is a political determination to upset the traditional canons of living an interior because deemed responsible for forming “house people” first and citizens second. The idea of shaping and being shaped by their living unit prompted the Favero family to leave the vibrant city of Turin for an industrial village close to the airport.   The project contaminates the road, encouraging sociability and sharing, fuelling that not necessarily distant utopia of creating an enlightened village ready to welcome others who decide to leave the city behind. Fabrizia Vecchione (@fbrz_vecchione)

Studio Marc: reconversion of a 1920's barn into a single family house
Architects: Studio Marc (Subhash Mukerjee, Michele Bonino)
Team: Lucia Baima, Mi-Jung Kim, Tommaso Rocca
Engineering: FRED
Location: Mathi, Turin
Area: 350 square metres
Program: residence and professional office
Photography: Beppe Giardino