The Casa-Atelier is the result of aconversion of a small attic which, in 1960, was a drying room on the top floor of the highest building in the heart of Città-Giardino. It had a terrace that led to a small toilet. Then, in 1990,the terraced was transformed bythe addition of a conservatory, a room with glass walls that housed a kitchen. The architects, who now live in the house, then proceeded to revolutionize the 29 sq. m of the attic and the 19 sq. m outdoors. The idea was: it doesn’t matter how many square metresyou have but the perception you have of them. First, they expanded the usable space with the construction of three functional areas in wood: two partition wall in the front room, one at 900 and another along the parapet of the glass room (Figs. 1-2-3). Wall units were added to them, fitted with 70 shelvesall together. The surface area was also increased by creating a loft bed in the front room. It acts as a ceiling and cannot be seen on entering, being suspended in the air like Aladdin’s "flying carpet", to wish you the pleasantest of dreams (Fig.4).
The Casa-Atelier has three rooms with many functions (Fig. 5). The first is 15 square metres with a partition wall of 17 square metres. Through the use of mobile systems, the room is organised into an entrance, living room (Fig. 6), dining area,two study areas (Fig. 7), bedroom with wardrobe and a sleeping area for guests and the first of two pantries. The second room, the bathroom, is accessed directly through a hidden entrance in the wall.
The two partition walls have a trapezium-shaped base to give a sense of perspective and balance to the two long and narrow areas: the entrance and the glass conservatory. The narrower end is in the kitchen area. The broadest end of the first partition wall is 70 cm wide and has a wall unit for clotheson two levels,corresponding to the change of season. The narrowest end is 30 cm wide and fitted with a food cupboard. However, thedifference is hardly noticeable and the walls look parallel. The inlaid wood tiles add tothe illusion of perspective, having been laid obliquely up to the partition wall, where this subterfuge is concealed by a couch (Fig. 8).
The narrowest part of the conservatory houses an architectural studio, which comes out from the shelves of the partition wall along the window, establishing a close relationship between the indoor and outdoor areas (fig. 9). At the widest part,there is the kitchen with dining table, chairs, sideboard, clothes warmer, which also come out from the same piece of functional furniture (Fig. 10).
There are two terraces, the bigger of the two taken up by the conservatory and the smaller beyond the kitchen. The first - water and fire. The fire consists of a cast iron stove, excellent for cooking, such as those found on British navy sailing ships. Under the stove, there is a wood storage area and the air treatment unit. Opposite the fire,there is a small fountain in the form of pool: during the day it produces a continuous gurgling sound to accompany periods of study and cooking, while at night it lights up blue and adds a scenic and wondrous element to this area (fig. 12). Alberti recommended a play of water in residences to create a calm atmosphere in a house, but here with the landscape of Lazio to the north,it feels as if we are standing alone on one of the hills of Rome in an exhibition of water, like at the Janiculum.
The small terrace is a covered open-air extension of the kitchen and is entirely surrounded by a brisesoleil in woodFfig. 13). It provides several functions,such as a second kitchen area,dishwashing area, waste separation area and laundry. Here two things stand out: a vertical garden with a tiny nursery of evergreen herbs and kitchen spices and a brisesoleilthat functions also as a folding drying rack (Fig. 14). The "simple machine" used by the architects to create this wealth of functionsis the hinge. The 70 shelves can be opened and closed and many of them transform into something that is useful in the right part of this house-shell. So, from the ceiling of the loft-bed we can lower a study table that can be used for dining in the winter, while on the terrace it can serve up to 10 people (Fig. 15).
The house is suitable for a couple, but you can invite up to 40 friends at a time, or even welcome 340 visitors, as during the Open House event in Rome in 2015.
All new furnishings, namely the wall units, brisesoleil, floors, and furniture items, were made by hand by the two architects Filippo M. Martines and Cinzia Schiraldi. They used construction beams, plywood for the shelves and water-based paint (Figs. 16-17-18-19) The white and dark grey colours help distinguish the vertical and horizontal planes, both mobile and fixed, and the different functions of the shelves, while the periwinkle blue of the kitchen shelves takes us back to the sixties.
The furniture designed by the architect is made of fir, reusedwood that has been brush painted. The concept is based on the poetics of Futurism, like Ivo Pannaggi’s house in the Museo di Palazzo Buonaccorsiin Macerata. In Futurism, the architect is a designer and carpenter. Then, it was not a case of being on the same wavelength as the De Stijl group or the Bauhaus in Dessau, nor a rejection of the conventional production of furniture. It was first and foremost a way of reclaiming the tools of the trade and measuring the work to be done with your own hands, thumbs and palms.
But this is a house in miniature. Tiny but comfortable, as in Le Corbusier's Modulor. Everything has been designed to the millimetre and then perfected by going around the shelves as they were being built. We are playing the game of building and living. Homo Ludens is someone that is constantly in us (Johan Huizinga, Amsterdam, 1939). We begin in childhood to build cities and skyscrapers with wooden dice, cardboard boxes and fruit crates. In the game of living, construction is on a small scale, to match a person’s needs, like a snail’s shell. So the ladder to get up to the flying carpet has alternate steps, that is, on each step there is room for only one foot, as in the galleys of small sailboats: getting up and down is a game of checkers, but played in safety (fig. 20). The house contributes to the wellbeing of its inhabitantsbecause, at least once a day, we feel as though we are playing a game. And the two architects instil this feeling even in their clients, who join them in this game of living.
