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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. CASA VCS in Ragusa, Sicily by Giuseppe Gurrieri StudioJanuary 15th, 2022 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio House VCS is a project looking at the new construction of a one-family house in Modica in the province of Ragusa, on a site whose the high scenic value is due to the constant relation with the rock, on which is built not only the house but the whole town. In fact, Modica is characterized by rugged horizon and pale rocky walls, extent that the ancient, in order to name it, have been inspired by the word “Murìka”, which indicates the bare and poorly cultivable rock. The house, realized thanks to the technical collaboration with the engineering office SIC, is in the countryside of Modica, in an area characterized by a soft slope which suddenly turns into a steep rocky escarpment. A place where the view literally seems to “leap into the void” of the valley to stop in the opposite side.  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli
 Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli
 Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli The project focuses on the analysis of both place and the human settlement in the area during the last century and it refers to the rural architecture typical of the 1930s, made by row material and precarious housing structures, born to enlarge the buildings related to the local agricultural activities. In the countries of the hyblaean plateau it is easy to find this construction typology, characterized by thin metal profiles which hold large trusses and roofing sheet, structures that both for their lightness and their transparency, meant as light transmission, do not heavily pressure on the surrounding landscape. Lightness and transparency have become the basic principles of this project. The cusp, resulting from the soft slop and the escarpment, point where the house appears to float in the void, is accentuated by a reinforced concrete retaining wall.  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli The building is made of a metal structure supported by 12 piles which raise it and taking it to the same altitude of the cusp, where the main entrance is via an orsogrill walkway. The same walkway also extends on the opposite side, making the VCS house a true suspended house whose view of the valley gives the sensation of floating in the void. The building is conceptually formed by two horizontal and parallel plates that contain volumes varying in sizes and functions, while the void among the volumes, patched up by the window frames, contains the living area. The construction of the iron trusses, which support the trapezoidal sheet metal roof have been designed in keeping with the rural architecture of the local tradition, reinterpreted in a contemporary key.  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli The house is almost invisible from the outside, and the big windows allow the valley to cross the building and come into view as people walk down the driveway. The permeability of the volumes and the alignment of the openings do not penalise the architectural materiality. Attention to and respect for the site are not limited to the shape of the building, but to all the design measures needed to make this architecture sustainable. The parallelepiped exposes its long sides to the north and south, allowing optimal sunlight in summer and winter. The design of the openings, the shaded areas, the wall package and the highperformance windows and doors allow control of incoming and outgoing solar radiation. Thanks also to the contribution of electricity from photovoltaic panels on the roof, the house has been classified NZEB. The result is an architecture that respects the landscape all-round and, on tiptoe, blends into it.  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Filippo Poli  Image Courtesy © Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio  Image Courtesy © Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio  Image Courtesy © Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio  Image Courtesy © Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio  Image Courtesy © Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio  Image Courtesy © Giuseppe Gurrieri Studio
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Categories: House, Residential |
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