Marsà al hamam is the name of the original Arab fabric of Marzamemi, a seaside village south of Syracuse overlooking the coast of the Ionian Sea, where, on the edge of the old fishermen's houses dating back to the 1600s, one was built as an appendage to the village itself in the 1950s.
The building rises on the rocks, resting on a stone base bordered in part by the breakwater. The housing program requested by the client, an Italian artist who loves the sun and warmth of the south, is for a house where he can spend short periods of the year reading, meditating and gazing at the horizon.
While on the outside, the thick sandstone block walls reaffirm the pre-existing perimeter wall envelope, on the inside, the design redefines the space through the inclusion of the structural core that houses the service rooms to the dwelling.
Three mosaics and a ceramic tile, specially made for this house by the owner, blend with the walls and floor of the house.
Light invades the rooms of the house with all its intensity, breaking through the surfaces made with the use of all-natural materials, realizing the symbiosis between the house and the surrounding landscape. The space contains it and reflects it outside, as if it were a luminous beacon placed to signal to sailors the presence of the hamlet.
Location: Marzamemi, Syracuse
Year: 2009/2010
Designer: Eva Grillo
Photos: ©Salvatore Gozzo
