The inhabited wall, Nebbio, Corsica, France.
The land is located in the plain of the region Nebbio - fog - in Corsica. The region with arid climate during the summer period, is one of the few pockets of limestone of the island. The vegetation consists of maquis (scrubland) and olive trees, the soil is rocky.
The land has a North-South declivity composed with limestone rock which imposes its white mass. Its materiality and color naturally answer to the violence of the sun and its sweltering heat.
Topography, geology and geography of a place as a starting point.
Stone, light, and vertical drop: Build stone, dig the stone, reveal the slope and control the light.
These intentions set the course (give the cap) of the project. There is the desire to reveal the topography and use the raw material offered in the field with the presence of limestone, while finding a device bringing the coolness.
The intention is to dig a nest in the rock to answer the climate, while leading to a blurring between the physical limits of the project, between the limits inside outside.
This work led to the creation of a double wall or wall inhabited, an envelope meeting the constraints that it was fixed, and leading to a disappearance and a simplification of the architectural language in facade. The result is a boulder giving the impression of having been carved inside.
An annex responds at the principal house with a pristine white mass. Between the two, a vacuum marks the entrance.