Villa Soranzo Penthouse
Villa Soranzo Penthouse is a minimalist residence located in Venice, Italy, designed by MIDE architetti. The project occupies the transformed attic of a 16th-century villa built by the Venetian Soranzo family, where frescoed mythological figures still animate the exterior facade. This intervention negotiates a delicate tension – how to inhabit a protected historical envelope while establishing spatial clarity suited to contemporary domestic life.
The renovation strategy centers on perceptual openness rather than structural demolition. Partition walls deliberately stop short of the ceiling plane, allowing original wooden beams to read as continuous structural elements spanning the full volume. This ceiling-as-datum approach creates visual unity while maintaining necessary functional divisions between public and private zones. The technique recalls Carlo Scarpa’s interventions in Venetian buildings, where new insertions acknowledge but do not compete with existing fabric.
Material choices reinforce this layered temporality. Seamless resin flooring establishes a neutral ground plane that contrasts with the dark timber overhead, while perimeter walls retain their textural irregularities – evidence of centuries of habitation revealed through selective plaster removal. The effect is neither restoration to an imagined original state nor complete modernization, but rather an honest register of accumulated time. Light becomes the primary tool for spatial articulation. Openings on all four elevations admit constantly shifting natural illumination that emphasizes the depth of the thick masonry walls and animates the volume throughout the day. On the river-facing side, an open living zone captures southern exposure, while the garden-facing bedrooms receive softer, filtered light through the mature landscape.
The central staircase leads to a mezzanine that functions as a spatial hinge – neither fully separate room nor simple circulation. This interstitial zone overlooks the main volume while connecting to the facade dormer, creating what Japanese architects might term an engawa – a threshold space between public and private, interior and exterior. The mezzanine accommodates hybrid activities – reading, working, observing – that benefit from this in-between condition.
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