The Mulberry Refuge / a25architetti

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior PhotographyThe Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior PhotographyThe Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Interior Photography, Table, Windows, Chair, BeamThe Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Interior Photography, BeamThe Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - More Images+ 34

  • Architects: a25architetti
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  60
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2021
  • Photographs
    Photographs:Marcello Mariana
  • Lead Architects: Francesco Manzoni - Paolo Manzoni
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The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior Photography
© Marcello Mariana

Text description provided by the architects. The Mulberry Refuge is the renovation and enhancement of a small agricultural building serving the surrounding land, in northern Brianza at the foot of the hills of Montevecchia.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Marcello Mariana
The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior Photography
© Marcello Mariana

Since early 1900, this territory has been characterized by the production of silk and mulberry farming, whose foliage was used as food for silkworms. Such cultivation was widespread in the farms and all around the hilly landscape. Nowadays, the land and the terraces are used for other activities such as hay meadows, pasture, and corn crops and there are only a few mulberry trees left, one of which is right in front of the Refuge.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior Photography
© Marcello Mariana

In the last fifty years, the building has been used as a tool shed and barn and adapted according to the needs of the time, often with poor-quality materials. Yet under the layer of time, some hidden qualities have emerged while restructuring.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Image 38 of 39
Plan

Once the building was cleared of all these materials, it could finally show its very simple structure made of rough cement. It was then cleaned in the lower part, while in the upper part a new wall with cement bricks was made to replace the old wall, made with waste materials. The project responds to the owner's need to have a storage area/barn on the upper floor and more convivial space, as well as shelter for tools, on the ground floor with direct access to the path in front. It is here that the owner, a Garelli worker born in 1940, spends most of his time. After a life spent working, he has now made this place his life, never losing a chance to chat with passers-by, and making the refuge an unusual meeting place.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior Photography, Chair
© Marcello Mariana

Upon entering you will find a real "furnished" refuge: a small table with chairs and a single-window framing the surrounding landscape. An intimate, private, almost secret place. On the upper floor, instead, the space is used as a deposit for agricultural equipment.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Interior Photography, Table, Windows, Chair, Beam
© Marcello Mariana

Waste materials were previously used for this building, whereas now there are cement bricks instead. The project reinterprets in a contemporary way the traditional walls used in the old farmhouses and barns. Nowadays the Refuge is used as a tool shelter and as a deposit for small dried "bales of hay": that's why a perforated or almost completely open wall face, which was normally suitable for hay drying, was not necessary. 

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Interior Photography, Beam
© Marcello Mariana

The materials are left raw, simple, and authentic, as was the existing portion on the ground floor. Cement bricks for the upper part, firewood for the roof, brick tiles, and raw sheet metal for the channels and downpipes.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Interior Photography, Stairs, Facade
© Marcello Mariana
The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Interior Photography
© Marcello Mariana
The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Image 39 of 39
Materials

The existing sheet metal door has been painted brass-colored, to emphasize the precious value of this little refuge for Mr. Benvenuto, and to mark that beyond that door there’s a story to be told.

The Mulberry Refuge  / a25architetti - Exterior Photography
© Marcello Mariana

Project gallery

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Project location

Address:23874 Montevecchia, Lecco, Italy

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "The Mulberry Refuge / a25architetti" 20 Oct 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/970471/the-mulberry-refuge-a25architetti> ISSN 0719-8884

© Marcello Mariana

水泥砖点阵外墙,Mulberry 庇护所 / a25architetti

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