MRDM House

The project is located in Forte dei Marmi, an exclusive beach resort town on the coast of Tuscany in Italy; the lot is located in the district called Caranna, behind the exclusive “Roma Imperiale” area, characterized by medium-sized lots with 2-storey "traditional" villas; recent regulations have made it possible to build and raise buildings that have led to the saturation of the lots and an unbalanced relationship between built and void spaces.
Since our first site inspections we were struck by the particular relationship that the site has with the splendid scenery of the Apuan Alps, a privileged view of the mountain range in its width, not polluted by “soaring” villas. Therefore it has been for us a priority to define the project horizontally, creating a minimal architecture of "almost nothing" that would relate to the ephemeral constructions that characterized the Versilia coast before the urban expansion of recent decades. Thus, the building does not try to show off, but rather to disappear among the border hedges, a sort of light sail suspended on slender piers and defined by long horizontal partitions in exposed concrete, defining an ideal stage for the mountain range behind.
A calibrated and almost timid intervention compared to the surroundings, which finds its quality in the use of the different materials the surfaces are treated with. The living area is projected into the garden, which becomes a sort of open-air living room, while nature, vegetation and water penetrate inside in a continuous play of references emphasized by the reflections created by the pool and the large windows. If the ground floor is the place of the privileged relationship with nature and the outdoor space, the basement is instead the safe retreat, away from glances and noises, where to retire during the night, protected and characterized by an unexpected large patio on the east side that diffuses natural light in all bedrooms and spaces.