Palerm House

The program is resolved in one level with a compact and elongated volume with pitched roof. The layout, parallel to the slope of the terrain, allows all the rooms to enjoy views of the countryside towards the north and take advantage of the south sun. This arrangement also favours crossed ventilation, natural lighting and the thermoregulation of the house. Transversely, the volume is perforated by an imaginary box creating a central hole, the living-dining room. On the floor, a concrete tongue creates terraces on each side of the living enlarging it. On the ceiling, a wattle pergola crosses the hollow space and expands on both sides. The south terrace ends with a bench from where one can view the framed landscape through the big opening with the old cinematographic proportion (2.66:1) transforming the living room into an everyday life stage with the countryside as a backdrop.

The landscape is framed through the big opening that intentionally has a panoramic format with a cinematographic proportion (2.66:1). This ratio of the old Cinemascope evokes the personal imagery that bring us back to old movie theatres. The capacity of architecture to engage people with their environment allows us to integrate the landscape into the space. The life in the house happens in this central space which is presented as a void in the construction. The space becomes a stage in between two panoramic windows, as if a theater curtain and drop scene would be. This stage offers an everyday life scene if we position ourselves outside of this central void or simply becomes theater stalls from where you can contemplate the changing landscape through the seasons with both the fields and the Tramontana mountains panoramically cropped as a backdrop. This duality converts the space into something unique and special for the inhabitant of this house, a theater director. Life, as Calderón de la Barca said, offers you different roles. Sometimes we are spectators, observing the experiences of others from the outside, living experiences through.

The house is resolved in one level with a compact and elongated volume with pitched tile roof. The width is kept to six meters in order to use low-cost concrete beams with no columns. The structure is made of concrete walls. Simple yet effective solutions, both in terms of design and energy efficiency, complete the house. The impact of the sun is mitigated by the wattle pergola, the Mallorquian shutters and the planting of deciduous trees provide shade in summer. Rainwater is stored in the water tank and then is reused for the irrigation of the low maintenance Mediterranean garden, the filling of the toilet tanks, and for the pool. Traditional construction details are used, as well as a palette of natural and local materials - such as rustic lime mortar plastering, reused ceramic roof tiles, hydraulic tiles, local mares stone, cane, sepi wood and artisan cement floors and sinks.