MARINA house
A small interior project in Marina di Ragusa, narrated through Marcello Mariana's photographs, transports us to a dimension of lightness and Mediterranean atmospheres.
The original building, overlooking the beach and the sea, once used as a salt storehouse, has been subdivided and transformed into holiday homes over the years.
The renovation work involved the ground floor of one of them.
The original subdivision did not favour the relationship with the sea and the southern light, as well as limiting internal usability. The project resolves these shortcomings, treating the house as a continuum of space and light.
Access to the house is directly from a side pedestrian alley, through a small veranda, conceived as a filter space between public and private.
Here one enters directly into the domestic space; a shower marks the boundary between the sand and the house, a table and fixed seating allow the space to be used as a dining area.
For a bit of privacy during the busiest periods, side access is mediated by a metal structure with perforated sheet metal; on the sea side, a perforated surface can be mechanically positioned at different heights to mask outside prying eyes.
This semi-transparency, on the other hand, allows a glimpse of both the sea and the beach from the inside.
The flat consists of a living area, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The living area, through two systems of sliding rattan doors, can limit or expand its size; towards the sea, including a small space that can be used for breakfast or as a small temporary study, and towards the sleeping area, including the distribution space overlooked by an indoor shower, masked by a coloured paneling perforated according to a rigorous design of roundels superimposed on clear opal glass.
The play of transparencies is the fundamental element for filtering the spaces but at the same time bringing light to the less well-lit rooms of the house.
The entrance from the alley into the living area is mediated by a full-height coloured cabinet with a large porthole. Beyond this threshold, one enters the living space of the house: inside, to complete an ideal pair, a rotating piece of furniture, also full-height, allows one to subdivide the space in different ways; the sides feature two round openings through which light filters and dematerialises the volume.
A large double-sided cabinet divides the distribution space from the smaller room.
Here, a small device allows a view of the sea. Like a spyglass, a hole in the existing wall thickness allows the gaze to cross the living area and centre the opening looking out to the sea. A small sliding panel allows it to be darkened. A small playful element ideally transforms the room into the below deck of a vessel.
The design is a set of overlapping elements, in which the warm, incisive light of the south transforms the space. The rattan of the sliding openings, the perforated panelling, and some of the furniture filter and reflect the sun's rays in different ways, creating a unique atmosphere.
The gaze traverses the space without interruption, attracted by a series of circular geometric elements that distinguish some of the furnishings. Light wood inserts give lightness. Veils, holes, portholes, clear and reflective surfaces, colours and objects: the resulting atmosphere seems to belong to an enchanted and magical world.
