Industrial architecture inspires a villa renovation in the suburbs of Milan
Italian architecture studio Oasi has renovated an old house into an uplifting villa for a family, combining minimal design with warmth and character
Oasi Architects has designed an unexpected villa in Villaggio Ambrosiano of Segrate, a pleasant community in the Milanese suburbs. The house renovation has a unique new upper volume crafted in sheet metal. Its shape, which curves, shifts and folds around the lower level, has been extruded from imaginary lines extended from the urban planning regulation lines of the residential street.
‘We are often inspired by industrial architecture,' says Pietro Ferrario, principal at Oasi Architects. ‘There is something simple in its expression and clear in its execution.'
There isn't much industrial architecture in this quiet suburb, but the project required a refreshing approach. The former house on the site had been built in the 1990s and defied many of the local planning laws, leaving it essentially illegal. Working with the plot was always going to be tricky, but the client and architect worked together to make something of it. The client, a contractor who built the project himself, was aware of the legal problems associated with the house when he bought it cheap because of them. He called up Oasi Architects who gave him the confidence to take on the project.
Instead of a limitation, the architects used this as a starting point to shape the new design. Giving a new sense of character to the house, they defined the perimeter and shape of the new first floor by extruding the curves and alignments from the imaginary legal lines that the new house had to follow.
When they took the design to the local administrators, they loved the project, and even encouraged them to use a unique material for the facade. The contractor chose a metal facade system that was to give the house an industrial character.
While inspired by the crude simplicity of industrial architecture, Oasi Architects start each project with the same question: How can architecture contain life?
The interiors feature concrete floors at ground level and a grey stone staircase, however wood brings a lot of warmth. The window frames are made in pine wood the upper floors are oak. Ferrario's favourite moment of the house is the veranda space overlooking the pool – where the family can drink a glass of wine, while the partner prepares some lunch.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Blue Copper Loft is a Dubai sanctuary for a modern nomad
Blue Copper Loft designed by Anarchitect in the heart of Dubai is a peaceful, yet luxurious sanctuary for a modern nomad
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
DAB 1α electric motorbike is the first product from French manufacturer DAB Motors
The DAB 1α is an all-electric motorbike born out of industrial design, gaming culture and aviation technology, and now available to order
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The 2024 Ivor Novello nominations for songwriting have been revealed
77 British and Irish songwriters and composers make up this year's nominees, announced tonight at London's Groucho Club
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Giovanni Michelucci’s dramatic concrete church in the Italian Dolomites
Giovanni Michelucci’s concrete Church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the Italian Dolomites is a reverently uplifting memorial to the victims of a local disaster
By Jonathan Glancey Published
-
Milan’s 10 Corso Como revamp nods to the concept store’s industrial character
Milanese concept store 10 Corso Como unveils its new look by 2050+, a stripped-back design that nods to its 20th-century character
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Carlo Ratti announced curator of Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
Carlo Ratti has been revealed as the Director of the Architecture Department at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, with the specific task of curating the 19th International Architecture Exhibition
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Floating infinity pool by Herzog & De Meuron at Lake Como is largest of its kind
Herzog & de Meuron creates the largest floating infinity pool in the world for Mandarin Oriental in Lake Como
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Freddy Mamani on Neo-Andean architecture and bringing a cruise ship to Bolivia
We catch up with Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani at Focus: Radical Repair, the conference curated by The World Around and Fondation Cartier in Milan, to talk about Neo-Andean architecture and his latest project, el Crucero de los Andes
By Laura May Todd Published
-
Best of brutalist Italian architecture chronicled in new book
Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego’s pictorial tour
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Studio Tropicana, Switzerland and Italy: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023
Based in Switzerland and Italy, Studio Tropicana is part of the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
WeWork Meravigli blends past and present in a 21st-century office space
WeWork Meravigli launches in Milan, bringing its ornate, historical new home to the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki Published