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Wardrobe by Es Arch – Enrico Scaramellini Architetto

By Eric Meunier

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Italian studio Es Arch – Enrico Scaramellini Architetto has designed the Wardrobe project.

For a total budget of 25.000€, the architects have squeezed this “micro” weekend retreat (376 square foot) between two farm buildings in Madesimo, a commune in the Italian region Lombardy.

Wardrobe by Es Arch – Enrico Scaramellini Architetto:

“The project is based on two specific conditions: – on one side the client’s needs, looking for a small and intimate space; – on the other a small, special and precious place. The alpine landscape dominates the place: it becomes evident the condition of a privileged and unique space.

The concept of size guides the project. Great is the land, the landscape: small is the place, the space. There is a mutual relationship that inspires the design process. What is the role of the “room” in relation to the landscape? How the landscape reflects, “adopts” the room? The point of view changes in a frenzied search for balance.

A micro retreat for weekends, a place for contemplation, a clearing house from a daily hectic urban condition. A small wooden box fits between two existing buildings. Inside, the wood shows its nature in warm tones; outside, the surface treatment with silver-gray paints echoes the colors of the centenarian woods of rural buildings. The wooden panels, assembled with different development of the vein (horizontal – vertical), react to sunlight returning different geometric compositions.

Outside, almost in a mimetic condition, the new wooden facade seems to hide itself, in the shadows of the landscape, and then to confirm, with sunlight, its presence, dazzling, throwing a visible signal at a long distance. Inside, the space becomes a privileged place overlooking the landscape. Almost an abstraction, an estrangement that allows to emphasize the privileged status of the “spectator”. A second level of thinking regards the stability of the building’s image in the landscape: spaces lived for short periods consolidate their status of “closed” places.

The light that reflects differently on the wooden panels changes the appearance in colors and tones, the uninhabited façade lives of its own life. Finally, the project underlines yet another ambiguity: as a wooden container, as furniture and furnishing, it is “a wardrobe in the landscape”. The project operates in small size, uses simple devices to find a contemporary language within strongly characterized environmental contexts.”

First Level

 

Second Level

 

Section

 

Site Plan

 

Before

 

Photos by: Marcello Mariana

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About Eric Meunier

Currently the Owner and Chief Executive of HODYO Design, Eric Meunier's expertise in the design industry spreads over 20 years. He was the driving force behind HomeDSGN's early success, founding this website in 2011. Today, he loves to channel his passion for design into remodeling houses and transforming interior spaces with his keen eye for detail and architectural finesse. Learn more about HomeDSGN's Editorial Process.

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