Living spaces are arranged around a center courtyard in this house ValenciaSpain, which local studio Viruta Lab Designed to celebrate the legacy of influential feminist artist Angela Garcia Codoner.
Casa Gesso aims to establish a dialogue between contemporary architecture and some of the pioneering works created by the artist in the 1970s, exploring how women have traditionally been portrayed in Spanish society.
Viruta Lab Founders David Puerta and Maria Darroz are fans garcia codonerWho is best known for her collages, screen prints, and acrylic paintings depicting stylized female forms.
García Codonar was also Puerta’s professor at the Valencia School of Architecture and later his mentor at the university’s Artistic Heritage Fund.
She explained that the artist’s approach to color and form informed the material palette and minimalist aesthetic of the home, which she described as a “livable blank canvas” for her work to reflect on.
The duo said, “In short, this is a house that allows Angela García Codoner’s ideas to live on and shows that residential spaces can also be imagined and used to question established norms.”
The 145-square-metre property in the suburb of Pickanya is made up of two volumes that reflect the different heights of the neighboring buildings.
The main living spaces are contained within a one and a half storey high structure, which is connected to a two storey high block containing bedrooms and bathrooms.
The building’s facade is decorated with vertical bone-white porcelain tiles reminiscent of the traditional washhouses that once housed the studios of local artists.
A courtyard at the center of the house provides natural light and ventilation to the living room and kitchen-dining room located on either side.
This space is covered with the same porcelain tiles as the façade to create a sense of continuity between interior and exterior, while a section of the adjacent hallway floor is finished with slimline tiles to match the courtyard surface.
Puerta tells Dezeen, “The day zone sequence is composed of three completely pure architectural prisms, one geometrically and visually seamless, the other a void located between two solids, which emphasizes the views through transparency. “
“These volumes are designed as ideal places of peace and contemplation, suitable to function like an exhibition hall or to display artworks, thus projected with half-height ceilings.”
Each living space at Casa Gesso was inspired by a particular series of García Codoner’s creations, with furniture, fabrics and artificial lighting chosen to reinforce their distinct themes.
“Within the rich details of the design, the effect of peace and unity allows the work of Angela García Codoner to dominate the space, becoming the architectural protagonist, supported by changing elements such as light that reveal their nuances in different ways. “Vibrate with,” said Darroze.
In the living room at the entrance of the house is a 1979 work from her Laboresse series exploring traditionally female handiwork, which Viruta Lab referenced through the incorporation of rugs, upholstery elements and decorative details that resemble cross-stitch Let’s highlight.
A painting from the 1973 Morphologias series, in which García Codoner deconstructed the way women were portrayed in Spanish society, is on display in the kitchen. Here, circular shapes are reminiscent of the serpentine figures found in paintings, while a statue of a woman provides a focal point in the courtyard.
A wall that extends the entire length of the house and separates its two programmatic volumes is equipped with storage that includes a door that leads to a hidden staircase connecting the two floors.
The main bedroom features a 1974 collage from the Misses series, which denounces the objectification of women in beauty pageants. The work is paired with a tweed headboard that points to the artist’s careful “construction” of the female image as well as her collage work.
A pared-back material palette creates a feeling of warmth and neutrality throughout the interior. The large-format ceramic tiles used for the floors complement the natural tones of the stained-oak cabinetry, while the upholstery introduces a soft element to the scheme.
The architects told Dezeen that the way Casa Gesso is organized and decorated has resulted in spaces that are clearly suitable for viewing and experiencing García Codoner’s work, without feeling like an exhibition.
“The architecture, with its constraints, was designed to respond perfectly to the initial concept, and with the materiality, they united and created this universe of reflection,” Darroz said.
“Spaces have specific functions and are created for activities but we have attempted to blur the hard lines that limit them, enabling them to serve purposes beyond their initial design.”
Darroz and Puerta founded Viruta Lab in 2020 as a reflection of their shared artistic and architectural passion. The studio aims to provide an organic, warm and timeless space that balances function with emotion.
Viruta Lab’s past projects include Renovation of a former fisherman’s house In Valencia’s El Cabanyal neighborhood, there are checkerboard tiles that reference the building’s maritime heritage.
photography is by david zarzos,
