Gentle Genius

Program    Facade refurbishment, energy saving technological improvement, terrace furnishing of the House-museum THE SEED OF TIME
Client  Rosa Giorgio, Cherubino Garziano

Year    2013-15
Location    Altamura (IT)
Area     230 sqm facade – 70 sqm terrace
Design Team     Giacomo Garziano

AWARDS
Young Italian Architects 2016    Venice (IT) – presS/Tletter    1ST PRIZE

Inspireli Awards 2016   Prague (CZ) – Inspireli    1ST PRIZE
“Spectacular houses” HÄUSER Award 2017   Berlin (DE) – Häuser    SPECIAL MENTION


Main contractor/builder  Impresa Cannito Domenico
Steel work Saverio Petronella
Main supplier Mapei S.p.A.
Building material supplier Fassa Bortolo S.p.A.
Energy saving consultant Andrea Casamassima
Sails Sail Shade World

Pictures 1-14 Michael Sieber
Pictures 15 Margherita Caldi

The city and its various parts can be seen as a music score, the edifices acting as notes played by different instruments simultaneously. A melody is created by, what the Romans used to call Genius Loci, the spirit of the place, the conductor of the city. Historic centres usually have a clear, harmonious melody, but oftentimes the soundscapes of the outer layers of a city are disrupted, lacking a conductor able to integrate architectonic interventions throughout space and time. Notes follow each other without a scheme, unbalanced, generating feelings of abandon and indifference. Gentle Genius is born in such an environment, aiming to generate awareness of the critical current condition. It sets a new key in the urban music score, recovering a deep note lost in time, reinventing local instruments to manifest as a sound from the future, allowing the Genius Loci to compose new music again.
The Genius Loci of the area, after decades of abandon, has finally arisen from its sleep. The facade starts to vibrate and due to its structure creates an ever moving surface. The red represents the strength of the genius. Red has the longest wave length of the visible spectrum and can be associated with the longest sound-waves that, rather than touching our ears, are felt in the torso. Hence it touches the instincts of the viewer, it is not linear, it is multifaceted perception that reaches out from the walls, transforming a residential building into a sculpture. The dormant feelings in the subconscious of the viewer are awakened and stirred, augmenting the intensity of the predominant emotion, acting like a mirror.
The spirit has found a place to emerge again, he shakes and touches those that are outside and protects and shelters those that have welcomed him.

Many architects are asked by friends and family to design their homes, but few are given carte blanche to exercise their creativity as much as Giacomo Garziano, founder of Amsterdam-based studio GG-loop. The faceted vermillion skin of this private house in Altamura, Italy — now entitled Gentle Genius — is a testament to the architect’s passion for breaking with design conventions and represents one of the most dramatic residential renovations in recent times.
Paul Keskeys - architizer.com