Castello Ganda Art Library

Repurposing of the spaces along Ganda Castle's outer ring wall in Appiano, Italy, as a library for a family of art collectors.

All furniture of the architect‘s design.

Significant changes were made to Ganda Castle, a medieval structure characterised by four round towers and an outer ring wall. Martin Feiersinger developed a design to refurbish the former stables, which are nestled in the southwest segment of the outer ring wall, and to convert them into an art library and event venue.

Via the loggia with its three renovated columns, a "keyhole door" leads to the "Red Bar." The bottle-green glazed cutout in the gate is reminiscent of an oversized keyhole and alludes to the door in the gate. Even before entering, one has a view of the red-tiled bar and the mirror chandelier: this disc dodecahedron points to Feiersinger’s interest in geometry.

For the reconstruction, he was guided by the book Divina Proportione by Luca Pacioli, which was published in Venice in 1509 – about the time the castle’s ring wall was built. The book includes Leonardo da Vinci’s illustrations of Platonic solids, which inspired Feiersinger to design the interior.
"In the reconstruction, I devised a strategy of interventions to the building fabric that were to remain as invisible as possible. In furnishing the library, on the other hand, I employed bold colours and shapes and tried to create a tapestry of interwoven references – ranging from early printed works to contemporay art."

The interior consists of massive arched bookcases and semi-circular tables. Strung together, the furnishings can be combined in a variety of shapes, another instance in which the architect invokes geometry. The hexagonal bar chandeliers suspended in the barrel vault act as technical counterparts to the mirror chandelier, while the "Green Georgines" introduce the ellipse to the geometric cast of characters. Red multi-legged jellyfish stools swarm the library hall, surrounding the turquoise Sisters’ Seat.

All photos by Werner Feiersinger, Vienna, Austria