ÜÇ VILLA

Urla is a small town located near İzmir. This project involved a 2-story vacation house for a family of four. Surrounded by other small houses, the site has old olive trees within and around its limits. Although Mediterranean in demeanor, the white articulated volume stands out because of its purity and unity. The clear mass with defined edges is marked with slits and openings, framing natural scenes as well as forming a geometric composition for the southern and northern facades. A concrete wall extends from the living room to the front garden; unifying interior and exterior. The front canopy and a spacious balcony rests on this concrete wall, accentuating the asymmetry of the front facade. Landscape walls of different heights and textures form parallel extensions of the concrete wall, defining the pool area, and also providing privacy. The finishes of the house are “primitive and natural.” They differ in materials but share the same whitish-pastel color palette. The light-colored poured-in-place concrete walls have vertical patterns from the timber forms that were used. The floors of the living spaces are light concrete with sandblasted natural stone; and the dominant exterior cladding of the structure is textured white plaster. The landscape design, in willful contrast with the pure white house, assumes an undomesticated and scattered Mediterranean feeling.

*by Philip Jodidio, Global and Local / New Projects / EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture, Rizzoli Electa, 2020.