Davide Macullo Architects | THE LEAVES

Davide Macullo Architects is an international architecture and design studio based in Lugano, Southern Switzerland. Studio di architettura in Ticino, Svizzera.

Davide Macullo, Architects, Swiss Architect, Ticino Architect, International Architect, Lugano Architect, international architecture, design, design studio, architecture studio, architect switzerland, swiss architecture, contemporary, art, studio architettura ticino, architetti ticino, ticino architetto, architetto ticinese, architetto svizzero, architetto

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THE LEAVES

2024

Valona

Albania

Vlore is the Riviera of Albania, nestled on the hills between the sea and the mountains, facing the sunset, a place protected by the distant peaks that convey the undulating motion of the Earth’s geological crust and push, between the water-carved grooves, the fertile cones where vegetation takes root, nourishing both body and spirit.

The building is structured in two volumes, rotating upon itself to offer reflective surfaces for the Mediterranean light and take advantage of its intensity. The hieratic façades are clad in a three-dimensional design of geometric shapes that function as planters for the apartments’ gardens. Protruding elements reflect natural light, echoing the leaves of treetops, the refraction of light and shaded parts—marked not by diagonals but by horizontals and verticals—deconstruct the volume, making it permeable and lightweight. The prefabricated concrete’s colouring, divided into five shades, mirrors the surrounding nature’s palette across the four seasons, making the building completely immersed in the magnificence of its natural context. The projecting elements also serve as sun protection during summer, providing ideal shading while allowing the interiors to be flooded with light during winter months. The attention to sustainability is achieved through architectural elements alone, without resorting to technological tricks, eliminating unnecessary complications, and ensuring a genuine approach to the Genius Loci.

The perfectly square grid of the floor plan highlights the building’s central role relative to the land’s undulations. The square, being a centripetal form, acts as a pivot for the rotation of both its context and the projections, which evoke a spiral or helix movement.

This is not a building but a significant mark on the territory, a sign of understanding and respect for a place, becoming a place itself, because once built it will be impossible to imagine anything else here that does not speak to the same reasons for its creation, its joys, and its passions.