Double Face

Typological hybridization. That’s how Gabriele Buratti – proprietor together with his brother Oscar of the architectural practice of the same name in Milan – define the characteristic theme of the villa for a couple of entrepreneurs from Bergamasco and their two children built from scatch in Albino, on a site where once a run-down infill residential building. On one side, facing onto the square, the front is simple, almost austere, and echoes the historical style of the buildings of the town near Bergamo, completing the backdrop of the public space onto which it faces. On the opposite side, the internal and private one, the portico and the large expanses of glass express the glamour of a contemporary, spacious and elegant home, along with the need for intimacy and connection with the greenery of the garden “To grasp the typological transformation that takes place over the space of a few meters,” explain Buratti, “you have to walk throught the vaulted entrance hall, leaving behind the plastrered external facade, and then along the wall that serve sas a filter between the house and the outside world – in which its actual entrance is located – and arrive at the garden. The true domestic heart of the building lies here”.

The project, which has allowed the studio to express its creativity in the different spheres of furniture design, interior design and architecture, is an example of the tipically Italian practice of working on several different scales at once, of which Franco Albini, Gio Ponti, Luigi Caccia Dominioni have been illustious exponents. “making the leap between architecture and interiors, between furniture and product design, is an always stimulating challange that is characteristic of the way we operate”. To enliven the 500 square meters of Casa Acerbis a rich palette of materials has been chosen, for both the interiors and exteriors. Natural stone and breccia, basaltine and veined invisible marble alternate with wood (natural oak and black-tinted elm), waxed crude iron, coloured mirrors, fabric and leather. The basic hues, all in natural tones, are interrupted by a few marked accents, like the China red of the shiny lacquered table in the kitchen, and the steel blue of the sofa. The keystone of the project is the articulation of the spaces and volumes around a sort of central light well running the full height of the building and serving as an element of visual connection between the three storeys and their occupants, who use it to interact at a distance. “it is a contemporary evolution of what Adolf Loos call a ‘Raumplamn’”, comments Buratti. “A space characterized by interlocking staggered planes and volumes of various sizes, that make up a complex whole. And a harmonious one”.