Around the vestibule

The apartment is arranged all around the great vestibule in the centre, from which you can enter all the house rooms. The “vestibulum” was a semi-public entrance space of the roman “domus”: a place where the family welcomes his visitors and show itself to the community. A room that seems to have no function whereas it is the relational core of the house.

The flat is situated in Camogli, and it is characterized by a typical layout of Genoese houses that usually have a huge entrance room, often without windows, renowned as “ingresso alla genovese”. This central room has many doors leading to the other rooms of the house. Our intervention confirmed this simple and effective layout, pointing out the ceremonial role of the vestibule thanks to a bespoke furniture system that upholsters the whole room. Furniture design makes the vestibule symmetrical and precious, introducing a simple and geometrical decoration that works together with the plaster ornaments and the flower theme of the terrazzo flooring. Entering the vestibule from the building staircase, we can see on the two sides the five pink doors integrated in the furniture design, while opposite to us a sliding door discloses the study room, copiously bringing the daylight inside the vestibule. Through this wide opening, the vestibule and the studio could merge in a unique space. Nevertheless, as necessary, it’s possible to close the study and to convert it into a guest room, by fixing the tailor made desk to the furniture shutters and pulling out a wall bed.

The furniture in the vestibule, the study and the kitchen is totally bespoke. The large and sunny living room, overlooking the mediterranean sea, is the result of the merging of two different rooms. Since we maintained the original decorated ceilings and terrazzo floorings of the two rooms, we obtained a unique spacious space still clearly divided into two areas: the proper living and the dining corner.

Location: Camogli, Genova, Italia
Year: 2019
Photo: Anna Positano