Casa nell’agro di Ostuni
Casa nell’agro di Ostuni is a minimalist residence located in Ostuni, Puglia, Italy, designed by Tela Architettura. Working with an abandoned concrete shell carries a specific set of constraints that many designers avoid. Here, those limitations become generative. The decision to retain the existing footprint rather than start fresh introduces a dialogue between what was and what could be – a conversation played out through material continuity and spatial refinement. The result is architecture that feels both inevitable and carefully considered, rooted in the slope where it was found and shaped by the pragmatic logic of preservation.
The material strategy unfolds as a single continuous gesture. Sand toned microcement and lime based plaster collapse traditional distinctions between horizontal and vertical surfaces, flowing across floors, up walls, into built in seating, and through bathroom fixtures without interruption. This approach recalls the tadelakt techniques of North African architecture, where lime plaster creates waterproof, monolithic interiors that age into the structure rather than against it. Here, the effect is similar – surfaces that feel formed rather than applied, as though the interior were carved from a single mass.
Walnut introduces punctuation. Door frames, screens, and selected accents provide thermal contrast to the cool mineral envelope, their grain and warmth offering visual rest within the otherwise monochromatic palette. The pairing is deliberate but not decorative – wood appears where touch and transition occur, marking thresholds and moments of inhabitation. An iron window profile traces a thin line across the plaster, its muted brown tone mediating between interior calm and the textured landscape beyond.
The horizontal fireplace anchors the living area without dominating it. Low platforms extend from its volume, organizing circulation and creating informal seating zones that eliminate the need for freestanding furniture. A walnut screen separates the entrance while preserving sightlines and light flow, a gesture that acknowledges privacy without enforcing it. Northern exposure ensures consistent, diffuse light throughout the day, supplemented by morning sun from the east and shaded southern terraces that temper Puglia’s intensity.
Outside, dry stone walls – a vernacular technique refined over centuries in this region – define terraces and guide movement across the site. These walls do more than organize the land. They connect the house to a long tradition of agricultural construction in southern Italy, where stone becomes both boundary and infrastructure. The infinity pool extends toward the Adriatic, its dark surface reflecting olive foliage and sky while visually dissolving the edge between architecture and horizon. Mediterranean plantings soften transitions and root the composition in place, their muted greens and silvers echoing the interior’s restrained palette.
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