- Project: House LC
- Architect: studioforma
- Location: Italy, Bergamo
- Year: 2022
- Photography: Francesca Ióvene
A Quiet Monument in Suburban Bergamo
Nestled within the low-density suburban fabric of Bergamo, Italy, House LC by Italian practice studioforma redefines domestic architecture with a poised minimalism that privileges spatial clarity, material honesty, and introspection. Commissioned for a client seeking expansive relationships with the outdoor environment despite site constraints, the residence articulates a singular architectural vision: a retreat that engages its context not through overt gestures, but through measured form and light.
Unlike many contemporary suburban projects that turn outward toward the street, House LC assumes a more introverted stance. Its quiet exterior and controlled openings subvert expectations—encouraging occupants to forge a deeper connection with the interior and curated outdoor voids rather than the surrounding urbanity.
Contextual Strategy and Typological Invention
The site’s narrow and elongated shape, parallel to a relatively inactive street, posed a classic architectural challenge: how to reconcile a desire for openness with the limitations of a tight suburban plot. Studioforma’s answer was conceptually simple yet spatially profound—a house articulated around two courtyards in a diagonal relationship, enabling visual and experiential connections with exterior space without exposing the interior to adjacent parcels.
This approach does more than organize programmatic functions; it fosters a rhythm of movement and light that defines the residence. The courtyards serve as focal points, illuminating interior spaces while shaping a spatial logic that balances interior privacy with openness to nature.
Materiality: Tradition Meets Contemporary Expression
House LC’s construction reflects both regional tradition and contemporary architectural intelligence. The structural system consists of a reinforced concrete frame with honeycomb brick infill, continuing Italy’s long architectural lineage where masonry logic and concrete structures coexist to produce robust yet refined buildings.
Rather than masking this assembly, studioforma embraces it: the concrete frame is fully clad in brick, creating continuous surfaces that support a 3.5 cm layer of traditional hydraulic lime plaster. This finish imbues the exterior with a tactile quality that subtly responds to changes in daylight, generating a nuanced interplay of light and shadow on the façade.
Importantly, all weatherproofing and insulation are internalized, allowing the exterior’s thick plaster envelope to age naturally and present a sculptural presence reminiscent of an “erratic rock” embedded in the suburban landscape.
Sculptural Simplicity and Spatial Precision
From the outside, the residence’s minimal openings and expansive plastered planes project an abstract image that intentionally obscures its true scale. This architectural move challenges the viewer’s perception, elevating the house from a typical domestic object to a refined abstract form that resonates with its broader context.
Inside, the spatial organization reinforces this sculptural simplicity. Primary living areas are organized on the ground floor, ensuring fluidity and direct access to the courtyards, while a more compact upper level houses work and study spaces, tucked away as a private retreat.
The courtyards not only provide natural light but also establish spatial connections across levels, fostering a seamless continuity between interior rooms and outdoor pockets. The result is a home that feels both grounded and open—an interplay of solidity and void that defines the architectural experience.
Landscaping and Material Continuity
Although the house’s external appearance appears monolithic, the careful integration of landscape elements in the residual spaces introduces life and softness to the composition. Minimal yet vibrant garden areas contrast with the house’s robust plaster surfaces, creating moments of intimacy and repose.
Ground surfaces around the building employ locally sourced Vicenza limestone, bridging the tactile quality of natural stone with the refined plaster facades and reinforcing a material continuity from exterior patios to interior thresholds.
A Contemporary Classic of Suburban Living
House LC stands as a thoughtful reinterpretation of suburban domestic architecture—one that embraces its constraints and turns them into opportunities for spatial richness and poetic materiality. With its disciplined form, refined material palette, and dialogue between light and shadow, the residence demonstrates how modern architecture can reinvent tradition to produce environments of lasting quality.
This is architecture that does not shout, but rather resonates: measured, introspective, and inherently attuned to the rhythms of daily life.
