A VILLA IN CORSICA IMMERSED IN NATURE
The French architectural studio AW2 has built a modern house featuring plain and simple rooms, benefitting from large windows offering views of the surrounding landscape to capture the smells of the island
THE FRENCH ARCHITECTURAL STUDIO AW2 HAS BUILT A MODERN HOUSE FEATURING PLAIN AND SIMPLE ROOMS, BENEFITTING FROM LARGE WINDOWS OFFERING VIEWS OF THE SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE TO CAPTURE THE SMELLS OF THE ISLAND
“Designing residential architecture in these places means considering the features of the site...
“Designing residential architecture in these places means considering the features of the site, the context and the people who will live there,” explain Reda Amalou and Stéphanie Ledoux, the founding architects of the French architectural studio AW2 (www.aw2.com) in an interview with Ville & Casali. They were commissioned to design and build a brand-new 400-m2 villa in the south of Corsica. “We wanted to create a design that would disappear into its natural setting and adapt to the topography of the site, to have minimal impact on the existing environment. At the same time, it also had to be functional and appropriate for the family’s needs, who love to regularly host their friends and family,” recalls Ledoux. “We wanted to make it appear as if the house had always been there, completely surrounded by nature. We only added a small cactus garden to visually join the two parts of the villa.” The home is spread across five levels, each meticulously designed to guarantee suitable privacy at night and shared use of the common areas during the day. All rooms are connected to the outside and can be opened or closed at will thanks to large windows that frame the views and extend the interior towards the surrounding greenery, as far as the terraces and gardens. The living area in particular has been designed to be enjoyed in close contact with nature. To achieve this, there are no clear divisions between one room and another. Instead, pierced stone screens have been erected, which allow the light to filter through and illuminate the space. A delicate combination of different materials has been expertly chosen to emphasise the architectural spaces. The local white limestone creates a pleasant contrast with the bright green of the Mediterranean scrub and is used both for the façade as well as for the
large fireplace and room partitions. The concrete then creates a neutral, almost invisible shell, perfect for blending in with nature and for staging handcrafted furniture and furnishings.