Elogio del Grigio

When philosophy paints its grey on grey, then has a form of life grown old, and with grey on grey it cannot be rejuvenated, but only known; the Owl of Minerva first takes flight with twilight closing in. — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

This house, built on the outskirts of Castiglione delle Stiviere, on the slope of a moraine hill to the south of Garda, is inspired by the image of the fog-bound lake. Its frontage appears in the form of a miniature palazzo, a symmetry of elongated openings, entrance arch and hipped roof. In the manner of an ancient pianura dwelling, this dominates the side of the building facing the sunset. According to Hegel, consciousness is a discernment of greys. And this architectural design is a journey around a truth. The Soul of this house, therefore, is arranged for listening to that which is unsaid. In the interior, a living room measuring 10.1x4.36x5.23 metres reunites distant echoes, extending the geography of a place in times seemingly far-off: the rectangular cuspidate rooms of Marrakesh, window panes somewhere between Venetian windows and the marble hammams of Istanbul crossed by hidden waters. The living room of the house of greys is thus a mutable constellation of imaginaries. Its idea-forms inhabit a diaphanous space. Tonal gradients link and distinguish in equal measure, conferring that psychological character of the Wagnerian leitmotiv that weaves subtexts. So, through the acquired faculty of a conversation, the virtue of the grey reconstructs an architecture of chromaticisms.

This text was first published on ArchDaily,[↗] Santiago de Chile, 21 Jan. 2024.