Casa Petrini Villani

The house for a psychologist, a nurse and their young daughter is designed as the extension of an existing one-floor building in the historic center of Polignano a Mare. While the old tufo facade remains almost unmodified, the new volume above is clearly defined through the use of lighter materials: a double skin system - made of glass/aluminum large windows screened by steel and wood retractable panels - allows natural light in while preventing heating. About 4.000 movable wooden tiles create a pixelized reconfigurable front, and generate always changing shadows effects inside. The project aims to open a dialogue between old context and contemporary language, natural material and digital realm, while focusing on the importance of perception and phenomenological aspects in built space. The opposite ideas of the ruin and of the unfinished are expressed in the design as a link between past and future.