Ricupaglia

Jun 5

Written by Omar Dahabra

Location: Montiano, Italy
Year: 2024
Architects: PPDA Presicci + Pantanella D’Ettorre Architetti
Photography by: Lorenzo Zandri

Ricupaglia is a 200 sqm farmhouse surrounded by vineyards between Magliano and Scansano, in a landscape that lies between the sea and the hills of southern Tuscany. Originally a typical rural house, it was part of the estates of old landowners and was assigned to a farmer during the Agrarian Reform of the 1950s.

The current owners aimed to create a contemporary and cosy home that would pay homage to Maremma’s rural architecture while engaging in dialogue with the surrounding environment, rich in nature, agriculture, and tradition.

Before the renovation, the farmhouse—positioned on a small hill overlooking the vineyards—featured the typical two-storey layout of rural buildings: stables and cellars on the ground floor, with no internal connection, and the farmer’s dwelling on the upper floor, accessible via an external staircase, with additional agricultural outbuildings located within the property.

The design preserved the original layout and its main structural elements, such as the tuff and stone walls. The external staircase was reimagined as a sculptural stone wall, gaining form and materiality like a true second façade.

On the ground floor, the previously fragmented layout was transformed, with large openings in the internal walls creating direct connections between rooms. The design intent was to create a “house in motion”, accessible in every direction and free of interruptions, offering 360-degree views both inside and out.

The stone blocks were stripped of old plaster and brought back to light, while parts of the original carved terracotta brick floor from the stables were recovered and repurposed on a wall in the dining room and upstairs bedroom.

This led to the choice of terracotta—an ancient material with a contemporary spirit—and concrete as the defining materials of the house.

The internal passageways and some horizontal surfaces were clad in ‘pink’. A brick lattice wall, typical of Tuscan rural architecture, was used as a partition between the staircase—now a new internal concrete element—and the living room, which features a continuous surface in the same material.

The original small windows, designed with functionality in mind for agricultural work, were enlarged to create new views of the surrounding vineyards and to increase the amount of natural light in the interior.

The result is a transformation from a generic, schematic structure into a fluid and organic architecture, one that establishes a more open and sustainable relationship with the landscape.

Meeting essential needs also became an opportunity to integrate current and sustainable technical solutions, including underfloor radiant heating, external wall insulation, a ventilated wooden roof, and a solar panel system. Text description by the architects.

Source: www.ppdarchitetti.it

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