Narrow House

Without Alessio and Giulia, there would be no Narrow House. Perched above a stream on the valley’s edge, it is conceived as a small family home with spaces that shift in function and character while responding authentically to the site. Light, breeze, and the gentle murmur of water shape daily life, while local and reclaimed materials root the house in its surroundings. Volumes follow the slope and respect vegetation, creating a tactile dialogue with context. The result is an intimate, flexible home where architecture, nature, and human experience coexist harmoniously.

The limited budget became the driving force behind the continuous invention of architectural details. Its shape was dictated by the pre-existing structure, which, due to its proximity to a river, had to be strictly preserved by law. The connection between the volumes of the former chicken coop and the old garage made it possible to create a single, continuous inhabited space which unfolds in a sequence of spatial episodes. The relationship with the outdoors is fundamental and is expressed through openings designed to capture light throughout the day. The narrow space opens up through the interplay between the intimacy of the inner courtyard and the untamed landscape of the forest and the river. From the street, the flat roof appears as a tray of stone and pebbles. Entering into and through the ground, one discovers the courtyard, which leads to the small house. The sound of the river changes with the seasons, and depending on which window is opened, the space resonates differently.

The main challenge of the house lay in balancing the budget constraints with the specific characteristics of the site. The high level of humidity caused by the nearby river made it impossible to construct a prefabricated wooden or steel house, and even a traditional plaster finish would not have withstood the conditions over time. A concrete house was therefore necessary. The structural and construction innovation consisted in using a standard prefabrication system—namely, the lost formwork in Stiferite panels—by modifying it asymmetrically: one side measured 5cm and the other 20cm. A release agent was applied to the 5cm side, allowing it to be removed after casting and reused as roof insulation, while the exposed concrete surface was left visible on the exterior. The small metal ties that originally held the Stiferite in place became decorative and distinctive elements of the building, leaving intentional rust marks on the facade.