Greenary is a lush, biophilic house built around a tree

Once a traditional Italian farmhouse and granary, what’s now known as Greenary is a home that has undergone a transformation that blurs the line between the natural world and the residential one, literally building around an existing tree. Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA), in collaboration with Italo Rota, redesigned the space with a  ficus tree  at the heart of it. It’s one of many projects developed in alignment with CRA’s mission to include natural elements into architecture under the theme of biophilia. It’s a philosophy introduced by Harvard professor E.O. Wilson, which suggests people intrinsically want to live close to nature.  Related: A green remodel gave this 1950s home major treehouse vibes That’s easy to do with a 60-year-old tree at ground level inside the home. She makes such a statement, she even has a name, Alma, and as a representative from the ficus australis species, she’s equipped to handle life indoors. However, designers relied on  passive design  and advanced technological solutions to ensure her comfort. The primary adaptation was to fill the space with copious  natural light . Massive windows on the south side contribute to this goal while other systems monitor the temperature and humidity for the comfort of the tree and the residents. The roof and the windows open and close automatically to provide the ideal amount of sunlight and fresh air into the space.   “In a flat landscape in which there are no mountains, hills, or lakes, but only plains, nature expresses itself through a beautiful light that changes throughout the day. It adds a charming, almost film-like quality to the atmosphere,” said Italo Rota, director of Italo Rota Building Office. “The  environmental  conditions around the Greenary inspired our design, and this represents one of the different expressions we use to illustrate the harmony between natural and artificial elements.” The Greenary embraces an architectural concept developed in the 1900s by architect Adolf Loos, called the Raumplan, which essentially means to have nature at the core. Although Alma is difficult to ignore, there are more subtle  natural materials  woven into the design, such as soil and orange peels incorporated into the flooring.   “The 20th-century Italian architect Carlo Scarpa once said, ‘Between a tree and a house, choose the tree .’ While I resonate with his sentiment, I think we can go a step further and put the two together,” said Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Much of CRA’s work focuses on the intersection between the natural and artificial worlds. With the Greenary, we are trying to imagine a new domestic landscape built around nature and its rhythm.” + CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati Images via Delfino Sisto Legnani and Alessandro Saletta

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Greenary is a lush, biophilic house built around a tree

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