Casa MM: a cosy country house

Casa MM is a contemporary interpretation of the rural courtyard house. Only the southwestern side opens to the countryside (from where you can admire a view free of any building). The other three sides feature thick walls that protect the privacy of the #people who live there. The entrance and the external courtyard walls are covered with large (90x180 cm) stone-effect porcelain stoneware tiles of the Pietre di Paragone collection in Pietra Piasentina.

Tiles (60x60 cm) of the Pietra Baugè collection in Baugè Antracite were used for both the interior and exterior flooring, thereby ensuring continuity between the interiors and the exteriors. The only difference is in the surface finish according to the specific use of the rooms. These homogeneous coverings are also the distinctive feature of the infinity pool, the courtyard, and the house. The porcelain stoneware tiles give the project its figurative textural highlights, thereby revealing aspects of the building overpowered by the rigorous volumes.

The architects #riccardocioli, #vanniancillotti, #claudiobenforti say: “We like to think that this house is the result of precise, stringent, or rather necessary remarks. We like to describe our work as a craft that makes a possibility waiting to be expressed visible, without complacency. The surroundings, the memory of the place, as well as the owner’s desires and possibilities were all aspects that we wanted to seize and express in the most appropriate way. And whether “most appropriate” means “best” is not for the artisan to know.”

The house – whose south-western side opens to the countryside – also features a pool. The entrance body houses the living area whereas the two side bodies, the dining area and the bedroom area, respectively. The three volumes are similar but distinguished, and their roofs gently slope towards the pool to let the sun in. A fourth volume – lower than the others – separates them figuratively but also connects them through a covered pathway. Life revolves around the pool. In fact, all the rooms have large windows shielded by large sliding brise soleils overlooking the courtyard. A lodge connects the intimate courtyard with the external garden.

Cladding: The large (90x180 cm) tiles on the walls create a façade with a seamless texture. In the courtyard, these tiles #design a continuous band that includes the windows overlooking the pool, creating a background that perfectly matches the rhythm of the sliding brise soleils. In the façade of the entrance, they underline the front door niche to highlight the exact point where visitors can get inside the house. For this purpose, 90x180 cm porcelain stoneware tiles of the Pietre di Paragone collection in Pietra Piasentina with a 10 mm thickness were used. The tiles were glued to the wall with minimal joints and grouting in the same colour

Exterior flooring: Baugè Antracite tiles (60x60 cm) with class R10 A+B non-slip finish and a 20 mm thickness were used for the flooring around the pool to allow dry floating installation and keep rainwater away.

Interior flooring: Baugè Antracite carpet made with 60x60 cm tiles with a 10 mm thickness and a natural finish (glued) runs through all the rooms of the house, thereby subtly reiterating the continuity between the interiors and the exteriors. The porcelain stoneware tiles were carefully rectified to ensure perfect, continuous joint alignment in both directions between the interiors and the exteriors.

From the extraversion of the central courtyard to the bathrooms (the kingdom of the owners’ privacy), the porcelain stoneware surfaces hint at each other in their colour, grain, and patterns, creating textural references that can be grasped only living the house in its continuity. This project perfectly combines the love for the outdoors and the need for privacy of those who chose to live in the countryside.