REP

STATUS
● Complete

LOCATION

Parma, IT

YEAR

2023

CLIENT

Private

ACQUISITION MODE

Direct assignement

PHOTOS

Giovanni Nardi

The flat is located in the historical centre of Parma, along Strada della Repubblica. The condominium, in which numerous flats are now organised, was obtained from an old convent that was supposed to be an appendix of the adjacent Chiesa del Santo Sepolcro. For this reason and because of the physiognomy of the plan, which is very narrow and long, the design theme was, from the very beginning, materials.

The client's intention was clear: to maintain the organisation of the apartment and try to give greater functionality to the spaces by characterising each room with materials that reflected the historical character of the flat. After several inspections we discovered that all the perimeter walls of the house had been built with bricks mixed with rounder pebbles, pebbles that were taken from the Parma stream and used for construction. This fact made it even clearer what the way forward should be: to lay bare the raw materials and bring them to new life. So, if, on the one hand, it was decided to remove all the plaster to free up the brick walls, on the other hand, it was also decided to lay perforated bricks and leave them exposed, or again to use, in the bathroom, tile glue as a simple covering. No cladding, only the secondary materials, the materials that usually support the finishes. In a sense a building site house where, instead of the finished appearance, the technical and subordinate side of the construction is put on display.

Where unfinished materials could not be left, it was decided to lay strictly handmade tiles. The parquet floor, as well as all the main and secondary trusses, was worked in order to be reused. At the centre of this project is a bookcase staircase that connects, with a cascade of steps and drawers, books and flaps the two levels of the house. In fact, on the upper floor there is a professional stainless steel kitchen that fits, poetically, between the roofs, tiles and gutters, of the old city of Parma.