Puglia is full of farmhouses. Outposts of country living, whose lasting identity is formed by honest, pure and rustic materials, generating a simple atmosphere. These properties are increasingly coveted as vacation retreats, but also utilized to host weddings and other events. This dual function is precisely what’s in store at the award-winning Masseria Torrepietra hotel in Monopoli.
The project by M+T Architetti underscores the architectural particulars of the structure, conserving many of the original materials of the 19th-century complex, from the walls to the arches in stone, as well as the typically Italian tiles of the floors and bathrooms.
The interiors are orderly, with taut lines, contemporary furnishings and lighting objects by Vibia that contribute to bring out the beauty of the spaces, with their precious and iconic mixture of technology and minimalist design.
In a large shared area with very high ceilings, the architects have installed the Wireflow suspension lamp designed by Arik Levy. In the opened, uncluttered space, the profile simplified by a delicate black cable, with its airy, transparent presence, brings out the beauty of the timeless stone architecture, drawing the gaze towards the theatrical vaulted ceiling.
Another version of Levy’s model, the Wireflow Free-Form, brightens two passages. In one of them, Free-Form has individual cables, each complete with LEDs, suspended from the ceiling in succession, like guides indicating the pathway. The slender industrial cable becomes an extraordinary point of material contrast with the surrounding stone.
The second Free-Form installation forms a geometric canopy over an atrium. Various cables extend outward like a net along the sloped ceiling, and then suddenly bend downward at an angle, generating a beam of light that crosses the room. In the unfurnished space this model creates an avant-garde décor.
In a smaller salon, the choice has gone to Wireflow Lineal. The two-dimensional lamp is equipped with a custom composition of cables suspended from a metal bar. The pure arrangement of ethereal hexagonal forms creates a graphic focal point in the understated room.
