Located in a particularly fascinating area of Turin, the building dating back to the 1970s is located a stone's throw from Parco del Valentino and the river Po.

The square-plan apartment had a distribution consisting of a decidedly too large entrance hall, a double bedroom, a narrow bathroom, a kitchen and a large living room overlooking a large tree-lined street.

Customer requests:

• rethinking the internal distribution of the apartment;
• use made-to-measure furnishings;
• create charming and warm environments, which create a clear link between Western and Eastern culture;
• use non-toxic, local, durable materials of “natural” origin.

The renovation of this apartment was an opportunity to reflect on the use of traditional materials which interest us for their aesthetic and physical characteristics, interpreting them in a more contemporary key in a city apartment. The attention to detail and the skill of our craftsmen did the rest.

In this case, given the client's passion for oriental culture, we have tried to bring together elements and atmospheres that bear witness to two worlds, trying to enhance their essence.

From a distribution point of view, the internal layout has been modified by creating a central nucleus composed of two barycentric bathrooms, one of which serves the master bedroom, an open kitchen with worktop and dining table right in front of the large windows overlooking the tree-lined street.

The new walls of the central nucleus are built in terracotta tiles, a zero-km material with a strong aesthetic impact, whose texture becomes the hallmark of the house.

The tiles, traditionally used to cover the soffits of the attics, here are structural elements that form self-supporting partitions dividing the bathrooms, living room and master bedroom. The element left exposed, laid on hydraulic lime mortar, creates a texture that is both rough and refined that somehow celebrates the beauty of imperfection. The angle of incidence of natural and artificial light contributes to making this surface "alive".

The terracotta tones guided the choice of the cocciopesto lime plasters of the bathrooms, applied with a spatula and made waterproof for the sinks and shower. The tints are a special blend of lime paint with a fine canapulo-based inert that gives tones from white to light greenish nuances that change depending on the position of the observer.

A large corner cabinet in solid ash treated with natural paint black based on lime, casein, protected with a mixture of oils, houses the bookcase and the equipped kitchen wall. Two Asian-style sliding doors partially close off the shelves behind. The piece of furniture is mainly designed to be open and acts as a counterpoint to the large existing wardrobe in the entrance, which was left unchanged in the apartment, as was the white Botticino marble floor, coming from Brescia quarries, which was very popular material in the seventies italian construction industry.

The rest of the floors have been replaced with oil-finished industrial oak tiles with the exception of the bathrooms where a lime, oiled and waxed mortar has been opted for.

Team:
Architect: Studio Ellisse architetti
Contractor: Davì costruzioni
Lime plasters and natural paints: Danilo Dianti
Carpentry: Paola Marenco
Supply of lights: Casa delle Lampadine 
Sculpturs: Fabio Zanino
Rug and rush basket: Mustras
Photography: Barbara Corsico

Material Used:
1. Interior lighting:
-on top of the piano: Lamp Gras n.204 - DCW edition, Casa delle lampadine
-on top of the table: Lamp Gras n.314 – DCW edition, Casa delle lampadine
-ceilling: Ray 1.0 black – W&D, Casa delle lampadine
-ceilling: Sqube on base – W&D, Casa delle lampadine
-bathroom: Mini globall – Flos, Casa delle lampadine
-bathroom: sospension – Vesoi, Casa delle lampadine
-bedroom: Biny spotlight - DCW edition, Casa delle lampadine
-balcony: Astro ap1 black – Ideal lux, Casa delle lampadine

2. Interior furniture:  
Sofa: Milano Cargo Hightech
Kitchen, library and cabinets: Solid ash treated with natural black paint, designed by Studio Ellisse, carpentry Paolo Marenco
Rug and rush basket: Mustras
Sculpturs: Fabio Zanino

3. Lime plasters and natural paints: Danilo Dianti