Capriccio
From element to space. Flat SSML, Lugano
Realisation: Falegnameria Giussani
Video: SUPERFLUO
Contributors: Arch. Nicole Gaia
The model is the conceptual depiction of how the furniture element becomes one with the space to the point of defining its character and thus the entire volume; this is the case in the SSML flat project in Lugano.
In this process, the theme of the fragment is central: it is both the individual furniture module and the individual room - red, yellow, green or blue - that generate a whole from a fragment.
The elements, simple modular boxes in multilayer wood, are combined in configurations that respond to the needs of living and are completed with accessories: hooks, clothes rails, containers, sheets, lighting.
Placed on the floor or suspended, the modules generate a potentially infinite structure, in which even the void is defined by textile fragments that transform the interstitial space into a container: TV niche, office corner, changing table or storage room.
The curtain completes and unites the autonomous parts of the modules and redraws the boundaries of the room.
The video shows some configurations created from a single element, highlighting the versatility of the system.
This project reflects on contemporary furniture capable of responding to maximum functional flexibility through formal reduction, economy, adaptability and reuse of materials.
The fragment thus becomes the minimal unit that, recombined, generates ever new spaces.
Stefano Larotonda graduated in 2007 from the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio with Peter Zumthor. He worked for Antonio Citterio and Partners in Milan, East Architecture Landscape Urban Design in London and Arquint Hitz Architekten in Chiasso.
In 2010, he opened his own studio and in 2018 he founded LAST, which deals with architecture, research and design projects. He participates in national and international competitions and has won prizes and awards, including the “Premio Giovani” from the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca and “Giovani architetti grattano il cielo” from Casabella. In 2023, he received a special mention as a young architect at the BigMat '23 International Architecture Award.
From 2009 to 2023, he taught at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio and, since 2019, he has collaborated with the Politecnico di Milano. From 2018 to 2021, he was a councillor of the Order of Architects PPC of Como and head of culture, curating research, publications, exhibitions and public conferences on architecture and the Larian territory. He is currently a member of the Board of the Cattaneo Archive in Cernobbio.