A project in which functional furniture is the spatial organizer that dictates invisible and permeable limits between the various rooms of the house

Casa Livia is a renovation project in Guglionesi (Cb) in Molise, carried out by architects Lorenzo Pio Paladino and Maria Lucia D'Alessio, which arises from the need to express the concept of fluidity on the most intimate scale of living. A 140 square meter apartment consisting of three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with living room, kitchen and study area. The classic use of doors and corridors, which normally define and separate the living and sleeping areas, has been abandoned to obtain complete freedom of movement, routes and intended uses. What could be called functional furniture is the space organizer that dictates invisible and permeable limits between spaces not yet lived.

The living and sleeping areas revolve around the central volume, the main functional piece of furniture that includes the kitchen, study area and services. The living room is a large open space overlooking the outdoor terrace, along which the bench / fireplace mediates between indoor and outdoor space. The suspended piece of furniture that embraces the reinforced concrete pillar is one of the functional elements that defines the imperceptible border between the kitchen and the living room.

Concrete, brushed oak, gray resin and white plaster tell of oriental atmospheres capable of transporting and instilling the calm and tranquility of the surrounding Molise landscape. Bookcase, wall units and wardrobes, study niche and small pieces of furniture are the protagonists of a design that aims to give continuity and architectural uniformity, responding to spatial and functional needs. It is the small details, the lights and shadows that celebrate the identity and uniqueness of the project. The dining table is its emblem, an artistic reproduction printed and applied on the oak top.

Simplicity, experimentation and clarity are the themes that accompany the development of the two bathrooms, which, while adopting similar materials, are different in the design solutions: cylindrical washbasin, ceiling taps and openable wooden slat structure are the characteristics of the first bathroom; suspended elements, walk-in shower with built-in shower tray and large-format coverings the traits of the other.

The bedrooms are the representation of calm, the renunciation of excess and the search for the essential that take shape in the few pieces of furniture that fill the space. A built-in wardrobe under the beam and the wooden bed with headboard with integrated bedside tables let the landscape of the countryside speak.

Photo Alessio Mitola