'Pescetrullo' by Gaetano Pesce

“The house is an actual portrait of the Venetian couple that commissioned me to make it, so it bears a likeness to their faces.”

— Gaetano Pesce

"My house expresses simple contemporary choices, in terms of both technique and material. It used images rather than abstract geometry that most architecture studios prefer."

'Pescetrullo' by Gaetano Pesce

An intersect between contemporary architecture and visual art, Pescetrullo was imagined when artist Gaetano Pesce was called upon to reinterpret a hectare of olive trees in Carovigno countryside in Puglia, Italy for gallerist Caterina Tognon.

Convinced that architecture should respect both the the site and the culture, Pesce worked alongside architects Gabrielle Pimpini and Cosimo Cardone, all of whom formed the realization of the work, a contemporary piece of architecture with a context that was saturated in history. Openly criticising the current conversion of trulli – the vernacular buildings found in rural Italy by instead creating high-end, technologically equipped summer residences ‘My house expresses simple contemporary choices, in terms of both technique and material. It used images rather than abstract geometry that most architecture studios prefer.’

Around an existing building, the collaborators created four new structures, that rise from concrete platforms of irregular shapes, giving the effect that they are levitating off the ground. The two mini houses are celebratory portraits of Tognon and her partner, complete with full faces of expression. Created from a symbolic portrait drawing that Pesce had drawn of the pair, “The house is an actual portrait of the Venetian couple that commissioned me to make it, so it bears a likeness to their faces.”

These structures are made of wood and are clad with coloured polyurethane foam, a versatile material that is typically made for insulation purposes. Making use of this material therefore permits good insulation, is eco-friendly and encouraged thermal energy, heat during winter, cooling in summer. The material is one that Pesce has experimented with since the 70’s.

The two smaller structures, which work as washrooms are completely covered by irregular small mirrors, causing a triple effect to reflect from its surface, making any human shape seem invisible as you bathe. The mirrors symbolise todays maniacal attention to the body, while choosing to instead reflect the countryside.

 Despite its playful structure, the clear objective of Pescetrullo was to imagine a space in which it was able ‘To live in a modern architectural space and spend the time in the open air’

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Images sourced from - Caterina Tognon, Living Magazine 

Design —  Gaetano Pesce

Location —  Carovigno, Puglia

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