CANOPY
HOUSE

In the reinterpretation of an original shelter, any architecture has its own word. The pavilion is a revisited element by every style and culture, because it somehow states the essentials of the act of building. Whether we look at traditional architecture in China and Persia or at classical architecture, a pavilion is a free-standing structure, usually of small size, sometimes opened to the sides, but always providing the user with the minimum requested to a shelter: a roof.

Modern architecture also revisited the concept of pavilion and it somehow made it part of its core philosophy. Modern architecture breaks with the 19th century styles and envisages a return to the essentiality by using construction in a sincere and meaningful way. New stronger and lighter technologies, such as reinforced concrete and steel structures, allow redefining the relationships between interior and exterior, returning to nature. Finally, considering its size, its object condition and its character of manifesto, the pavilion is a magnificent area to experiment and launch radical proposals, just as Mies van der Rohe did in the Barcelona Pavilion, or Charles Moore’s house in Orinda.

In a different context but sharing these premises, the Canopy House drinks from the same modern tradition in its radical and essential nature of shelter. It disposes a grid of bidirectional steel beams sustained by cross-shaped columns, which define a roof and a pergola to protect from the rain and the Mediterranean summer sun. Below the canopy, the functional programme of a standard house takes place in two floors, with four en-suite bedrooms and an open plan layout including kitchen, dining room and living room, all connected to outdoor living spaces. The ensemble of the pavilion seats over a podium, defining the limits of the house.

The glazed façade of the house ensures a total transparency between interior and exterior, bringing the fabulous nature of the surrounding lakes and golf courses into the pavilion. In order to emphasise this pure relationship with nature, the fireplace freely stands in the ten-meter high living area, like an open air camp fire around which our ancestors sat centuries ago, gathering in the cold winter nights for warming and storytelling.