The proximity to the Pantheon, a miracle of classical architecture (its dimensions form a perfect sphere), definitely inspired the harmonious balance of lines and proportions found in the interiors of this apartment in Rome.
The project confirms the almost maniacal care that Labics – alias Maria Claudia Clemente and Francesco Isidori – put into the design of any space, whatever the scale: from interior design to master plans, residences to offices and museums (including the prize-winning Mast in Bologna). Here’s an exclusive interview.
It was quite a challenge to work in a noble palace with a view of the Pantheon…
Francesco Isidori. Actually the building is part of the city’s medieval fabric, though over time it has undergone alterations, added floors, fusions, which is true of all the ‘basic fabric’ of the historical center of Rome…
But it is complicated to operate in such an ancient city, full of history…
F.I. Our project set out to recover the essential features of the context, to reinterpret them in a contemporary way. Context in the wider sense of the term: from the geometry of the plan to the materials of the site, the spatial quality of the interior to the typological character of the building itself. As in all our projects, we tried to grasp the spirit of the place: this has produced an original image, an utterly new structure. For example, in this house we decided to emphasize the continuous space, a sequence of rooms, marking the thresholds with portals in white statuary marble, redesigned in a terse, elementary, essential way… The whole project is summed up by this sequence.
Maria Claudia Clemente: The choice of materials also links back to classicism, somehow, not just that of Rome: the marble, the brass, even the ‘pastellone’ of the floors in the living area, are ‘true’ materials whose language has not changed over time; the way they are deployed sets them in the present, but they have always been there. In general, the idea was to give the house a monumental spatial quality, in the materic sense, and in terms of scale and spatial continuity, with a minimum of signs and language…
F.I. In short, a reinterpretation of monumentalism, in a contemporary tone.
How did you approach this passage?
M.C.C. The basic idea was to start with the space, which in this case was composed of two separate apartments, on two levels, which had lost their true ‘nature’ over the years due to many renovations. We decided to devote one level to the daytime area, with the bedroom zone above it; on both levels, we wanted to recover the original spatial structure, the sequence of rooms, in a seamless composition. Above all, we wanted to avoid distinctions between public and private areas. An open house, in short, transparent… a house that can be seen in its entirety in a single glance.
That is certainly a courageous choice…
Yes, it was, because it challenges certain classic rules of domestic design: to get to the living room, for example, you pass through the kitchen, and the children’s bedroom comes before that of the parents… but the clients – a foreign couple that have lived in different international cities – didn’t see this as a very extreme choice: in fact, they were quite enthusiastic. We should also mention that they had rather particular requests.
Such as?
M.C.C. They wanted to design a house that would conserve its Roman identity, but would also be connected to the Japanese tradition, which they grew to appreciate during time spent in Tokyo.
F.I. This was what prompted us to build a bridge between Roman classicism and the Oriental world, between material and abstraction, through careful use of materials and textures, focusing on lightness, economy, a reduction of signs.
The project absorbs all the fixed furnishings – the necessary storage – and makes room for ‘emptiness’: a geometric frame like Japanese shoji screens, forming the surfaces and changing to meet different needs, while creating a vivid sense of continuity. The doors also vanish into the thickness of the load-bearing walls, but when they are open they reveal glass inside a brass frame, a reminder of the patterns of Japanese rice paper.
Even the staircase, the new connection between the two levels, is based on the idea of lightness: bravely suspended in the void, it is anchored to the floor slab by means of a light structure of brass segments. The idea of openness, of continuity and transparency, is a part of Japanese culture.
Are you satisfied with the results?
F.I. I’d say so. The house has a sophisticated character, but the interiors convey a sense of a domestic, welcoming atmosphere, never cold. We had the good fortune to work with ‘enlightened’ clients, open to dialogue…
M.C.C. …which allowed us to stick to our goal: to conserve the genius loci of the house, its soul, its memories, in that sequence of spaces…
…which magically lead to the Pantheon…
M.C.C. Of course: the Pantheon represents the destination of this itinerary that proceeds from threshold to threshold, all the way to the last window. Open to the history of Rome.
Photos Alessandra Chemollo – Article Laura Ragazzola
