Terra Arsa | FMA architettura

Two pure volumes, joined by a glass corridor, combine the space of friendship and meeting with that of the intimacy of the night - on a lower level - in a visceral bond, rooted in the red earth just outside the windows.

It is Terra Arsa, Emanuele Gatto's atelier villa in the countryside of Copertino, Lecce.

The artist, who joins the Raum W47 collective in Frankfurt, wanted to get back to his origins in Salento with a project of a summer retreat, a place of rest and reconnection with nature. An atelier house, surrounded by what was once a lush olive grove - slowly and painfully decimated by xylella - that plays with the needs of its inhabitant and the lights and shadows of the Mediterranean landscape.

Conceived as "a house with eyes", it is a compact structure defined by simple volumes with different openings that frame the surrenderings : large windows overlooking the swimming pool, horizontal cuts through which the sleeping area overlooks the countryside, two porthole in the twin bathrooms : all becomes a point of view on the outside.

“It is a typical Mediterranean house, where the understanding of the relationship with the place has a central role in the conception and creation of the architecture” explain FMA architects.

The living area, conceived as a single large space, is connected to the garden through the porch, thus creating a fluid and mutual passage between the inside and the outside.

The central axis, oriented east - west, is instead defined by a corridor-container that distinguishes the daytime spirit from the  night area.

Materials and colors emphasizes the minimal mood of the project, underlining the linear geometry of the building, and seeking visual and tactile continuity between the landscape and the architecture.

“The guiding idea of ​​the project was to echo the traditional forms, with the simplification of volumes, for example, or the exclusion of the formation of balconies, and at the same time favoring sustainable and bioclimatic solutions” conclude the architects.

PROJECT: residential

YEAR 2023

PLACE Copertino, Lecce

AREA 140 m2

SUPPLIERS ABStilcasa  (flooring, coverings, bathroom furnishings) Systems: Sitec / Windows and doors: Guerrazzi / plasters and paints: Casaluci / Furnishings and fittings: FrasProject / iron works: Alfer / swimming pool: Sys Piscine / Lighting technology: Lucifero's and LineaLight, Stileluce, Galatina

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Imbriani Costruzioni

photo: ©Martina Loiola

Emanuele Gatto was born in 1981 in Copertino (LE). He lives and works between Copertino and Frankfurt, where he is part of the shared studio Raum W47.

He studies art as a self-taught artist and investigates various personal and collective identity themes through contemporary visual languages. A central aspect of his production is constituted by queer identity and culture.