Concrete Moon House

Secretly, everyone is attracted to what he is afraid of and sometimes fear reawakens desires that cannot be confessed. We remain perturbed, recognising that in remote parts of our interior universe resides an apparent otherness. We discover that the concepts of identity and difference are ambiguous, and often, paradoxically, difference becomes an instrument of investigation into our own identity. Two distinct parts of a dwelling here become a pretext for telling a story between two diverse formal identities. Designed for a suburb of Melbourne on a rectangular plot, in plan the house is in two parts. One public which in elevation looks like the upturned keel of a boat or a funny concrete moon that emerges from the pool in front, whose design is characterised by a deviation from the straight pathway. The other, private part takes the form of a long, narrow building set against the perimeter, which, through the progressive decomposition of its component parts, creates a portico open to the garden but closed to the car park. In being created in space, each of the two geometric identities retains an echo of a presumed common origin. Thus signs of one often appear in the other, though elaborated according to different processes. Though diverse, the elements have a relationship, and the sound of one resonates in the other; especially in the cave, where the achievement of this osmosis introduces doubt as to where identity finishes and where difference begins.

worldarchitecturenews.com , London, 20 Nov. 2009.

Data

• Time: Sept.–Nov. 2008
• Place: Kew, Melbourne, Australia
• Area: 780 m² (three storeys)
• Typology: semi-detached house

Credits

• Architecture design: Antonino Cardillo
• Clients: Livio and Nadia De Marchi
• Translation: Charles Searson

Publications

(selected)

• Liliana Adamo, ‘FAKEcollage. Non credo ai miei occhi!’ (pdf), in Dossier Collage, cur. Fabio Cappello, Rossella Ferorelli, Luigi Mandraccio, Gian Luca Porcile, Genova University Press, Genoa, July 2022, pp. 35, 39.
• Kirsten Wenzel, ‘Der Architekt als Maerchenerzaehler’ , competitionline.com, Berlin, 17 Jan. 2019.
• Jeanette Kunsmann, Stephan Burkoff, ‘Architektur und Wahrheit’ (pdf), DEAR Magazin, no. 1, Berlin, Apr. 2017, pp. 68‑85. baunetz-id.de 
• Carolin Höfler, ‘Hyper desire’ (pdf) , paper presented to the Wunsch, Technische Hochschule Köln, Cologne, 1 June 2016.
• Carolin Höfler, ‘Modelle in Wirklichkeit. Die digitalen Bildversprechen von Antonino Cardillo’, paper presented to the Constructed Realities, ed. Chris Dähne, Frederike Lausch and Bettina Rudhof, Goethe‑Universität, Deutsche Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, 1 Dec. 2015.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Faked reality’, paper presented to the Constructed Realities, ed. Chris Dähne, Frederike Lausch and Bettina Rudhof, Goethe‑Universität, Deutsche Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, 1 Dec. 2015.
• Gerard Houllard, ‘Über die mediatisierte Repräsentation von Architektur’ (pdf) , iacsa.eu, vol. 4, no. 1, International Association for Cultural Studies in Architecture, Basel, May 2013, pp. 8‑11.
• Hubertus Adam, ‘Analog/Digital’ (pdf), in S AM, no. 10, Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum, Basel, March 2013, pp. 19, 28.
• Birgit Ochs, ‘Architekturentwürfe: es möchte echt sein’ , Sonntagszeitung, no. 6, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt am Main, 10 Feb. 2013, p. V9.
• Stefano Mirti, Gioia Guerzoni, ‘Siamo specchi l’uno dell’altro’ (pdf), Opere, no. 32, Florence, Oct. 2012, pp. 4, 52‑56.
• Daniel Lordick, ‘Die Entkoppelung von Entwurf und Darstellung’ , Competition, no. 2, Berlin, Oct. 2012, p. 78.
• Carl Zillich, with Fabrizio Gallanti, Lars Krückeberg, Volkwin Marg, Wolfram Putz, Peter Reischer, Andreas Ruby, Tobias Walliser, Thomas Willemeit, ‘Causa Cardillo: “Geht’s noch ohne Hochstapelei?”’ , bkult.de, Berlin, 10 Sept. 2012.
• Peter Reischer, ‘Grandiose Luftschlösser’ (pdf), Am Sonntag, no. 32, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich, 5 Sept. 2012, p. 35.
• Christian Holl, ‘Alles nur gerendert — und jetzt?’ , german-architects.com, Stuttgart, 29 Aug. 2012.
• Gabriele Detterer, ‘Phantasie und Wirklichkeit’ , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, no. 164, Zurich, 17 July 2012, p. 40.
• Eleonora Carrano, ‘Il caso Cardillo: uno dei 30 architetti più importanti del mondo e l’architettura inesistente’ , amatelarchitettura.com, Rome, 13 July 2012.
• Alessandro Alviani, ‘Cardillo, l’architetto delle case inesistenti’ , La Stampa, vol. 146, no. 182, Turin, 3 July 2012, p. 37.
• Susanne Beyer, ‘Hochstapler: Römische Ruinen’ , Der Spiegel, no. 27/12, Hamburg, 2 July 2012, pp. 3, 121‑123.
• Peter Reischer, ‘Schöner Klonen’ , Falter, no. 19/12, Vienna, 9 May 2012, pp. 30‑31.
• Helen Geng Haizhen, ‘印象派建筑师’ (pdf), Interior Architecture of China, Beijing, Nov. 2011, pp. 48‑51.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Taking a position’ (pdf), build Das Architekten-Magazin, no. 5/11, ed. Ralf Ferdinand Broekman and Olaf Winkler, Wuppertal, Oct. 2011, p. 50.
• Lucie Červená, ‘Stejnost a jinakost podle Antonina Cardilla’ (pdf), Projekt, no. 9/10, Prague, Sept. 2010, pp. 28‑33.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Evinizle diyaloğa geçin’ (pdf), Tasarim, no. 199, Istanbul, Feb. 2010, pp. 122‑127.
• Devyani Jayakar, ‘Identity and difference’ (pdf), Inside Outside, no. 296, Mumbai, Feb. 2010, pp. 144‑149.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Identidad y diferencia’ (pdf), A+A, no. 12, Mexico City, Feb. 2010, p. 9.
• Lucy Foster, ‘Minimalist mansion takes inspiration from the moon’ (pdf), ShortList, no. 109, London, Jan. 2010, p. 8.
• Cuong Le, ‘Cá tính và khác biệt’ (pdf), Noi That, no. 102, Hanoi, Jan. 2010, pp. 26‑34.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘混凝土月亮屋’ (pdf), Landscape Architect, no. 1/10, Dalian, Jan. 2010, pp. 2‑3.
• Thomson Carpenter, ‘Physical poetry’ (pdf), DNA, no. 119, Sydney, Dec. 2009, pp. 106‑107.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Living on the moon’ , worldarchitecturenews.com, London, 20 Nov. 2009.