The warm Puglian sun, the green Valle d’Itria and passion for nature were the inspiration behind this project to design a house for a Dutch couple who have chosen to make their home in one of Italy’s most picturesque towns: Cisternino.

The building, a centuries-old four-storey building, stands in the heart of the historical centre, overlooking the majestic and elegant main square on one side and a narrow alleyway on the other; its remaining sides form part of the adjacent urban fabric.

The long, narrow rectangular plan significantly limited natural lighting and air flow, making the building uncomfortable to live in and radically compromising its use, something that had led, over time, to its neglect.

The project to restore the building and improve its energy efficiency provided the opportunity, following an analysis of its critical issues, to experiment with a new way of living in an intimate space, based on the concept of being immersed in nature. In the building’s core a double-height patio with a large skylight that can be opened as needed regulates heat and moisture throughout the year: during the summer, it functions as a “wind tower”, sucking up cool air below and expelling the hot air above, while during the winter it acts light a green house, capturing sunlight and heat to distribute it to the surrounding rooms.

The house has been consciously designed not to be a box closed off from the outside world, but instead opens up and is linked to the nature inside it in such a way that it interacts with its surroundings outside.

The first floor is the oldest part of the building and is characterised by spaces with vaulted ceiling.
A suspended metal staircase, like a spiral through space and time, leads to the private floors upstairs, marked by contemporary spaces and forms.

The empty central patio area becomes the heart of the building. Home to a lush garden (Monstera deliciosa, Musa paradisiaca, Arecastrum romanzoffianum and Pteridophyta, Philodendron, Ficus repens, Vica minor, Tillandsia), in a purely urban context it reconnects with nature by creating a microcosm capable of exploiting the natural resources of geothermal energy, solar radiation, air flows and recycled water for the plants, distributing physical well-being in accordance with the principles of biophilia.

The private spaces on one side and living areas on the other overlook the central patio from more than one level and are linked by a glass walkway suspended between the garden and the sky.

The solid and austere main façade is filtered by climbing plants and small shrubs (Camelia sasanqua, Solanum jasminoides, Lonicera pileata and Jasminum nudiflorum) which, as is traditional in Mediterranean towns, preserve the privacy of the rooms on the first floor, while at the top, a set-back garden terrace offers panoramic views of the historical centre.

In the heart of the Itria Valley, shrouded in the intense light of Apulia, the Palazzo MC project comes to life, the winter residence of a Dutch couple who have chosen Italy as their beloved home. A housing regeneration project that transforms a building with a long and narrow floor plan into an airy, green, living space. A residence designed to experience the landscape not only outside, but inside the domestic space, which puts green at the center of the living experience, in a constant dialogue between nature, light, matter and well-being.

The original layout limited natural lighting and air exchange, compromising living comfort and leading, over the years, to the abandonment of the property. The energy recovery and redevelopment project thus became an opportunity to experiment with a new way of living, in which the landscape becomes an everyday, immersive and multisensory experience. Greencure landscaping designed a radical and visionary landscape intervention, transforming the central volume of the building into a double-height vertical garden, capable of regulating microclimate, air quality and natural light.
The patio, the real beating heart of the house, acts like a wind tower: in summer it promotes natural ventilation, in winter it functions as a solar greenhouse that captures and distributes heat.

The space is designed as a poetic and functional indoor jungle, where carefully selected tree, shrub and herbaceous plants coexist to withstand and thrive in an indoor environment. Species include Monstera deliciosa, Musa paradisiaca, Arecastrum romanzoffianum, Philodendron, Ficus repens, Vinca minor, and Tillandsia, which together draw a living, iridescent ecosystem that climbs the walls and accompanies the suspended staircase as if in a space-time spiral toward the light. A small fountain with aquatic plants further enriches the sensory experience of living, giving natural sounds and movements to the domestic space.

A complex intervention that required advanced technical solutions and constant synergy among the teams involved. In collaboration with Corsaro Architetti, Greencure landscaping brought its vision and scientific expertise to shape a sustainable, manageable and extraordinarily livable indoor project.

“From a technical point of view, we employed state-of-the-art technological systems for water resource management: a certified drainage system (Harpo Verde Pensile) and a mineral substrate with zeolite guarantee sustainability, water saving and maximum efficiency in indoor green management. This is how we achieved the result we set out to achieve, namely a self-sufficient, innovative and sustainable indoor green ecosystem that combines beauty, ingenuity and respect for the environment.” Marilena Baggio, Founder of Greencure landscaping.

Despite the logistical and design challenges, the result is an intervention consistent with the firm's vision: to design landscapes that improve the quality of life, that adapt, that breathe.
Palazzo MC is now a concrete example of how greenery can become architecture, memory, comfort, and vision.

Team:
Architectural design: Corsaro Architects
Greencure team: Marilena Baggio
Contractor: Green Design SC
Photos: Giuseppe Manzi