TELESCOPES ON THE SEA

Homes like telescopes on the Tuscan Archipelago Islands: this is the project idea for the construction of two semi-detached units located on the Savolano hill, one of the most prestigious residential hills overlooking the city of Livorno and its sea. As two parallelepipeds extending longitudinally on a terraced plot (devoted to agriculture up to the last century) and similar to the camera zoom lens, the two houses show a double volume at the main floor. One of the astonishing features is the view and the light caught through the glass wall at full height of the shorter front. The longest facades, by contrast, are opaque, partly closed and feature a walnut travertine cladding that recalls the colours of the soil, thus establishing a dialogue between nature and the built environment.

The two volumes, which share a wall, are staggered and projecting respect to the glass base on which they rest. The basement floor is conceived within that glass base. The solution adopted, which apparently seems to reverse the rules of static nature, means that the houses appear to be suspended over nothing, especially at night and with the lights on.

On the long facades the fully glazed stairwells are attached to the two volumes in order to balance the transparency of the longitudinal closed facades, to offer more shots on the landscape and to connect the two levels of each house.

Customer: ALBATROS srl

Place: Colle Savolano, Livorno, Italy

Type: Residential

Surface: 4,500 square meters (lot area), 1,600 square meters (built area)

Status: Partially implemented (two out of four semi-detached units), 2008-2011