Ellipse 1501 House

Near a rocky slope, behind a thick blanket of pines, lives a house in the shape of a tower. It is not round, but its geometric set-up dilates toward east and west to welcome in the low, warm, extended light of the sun at dawn and dusk. A double wall, made from progressive castings of lightweight concrete, develops the perimeter of an ellipse, supporting, above, a slanting cover. The interstitial void between the two walls comprises the accessory area —⁠ ⁠stair, boiler, storerooms, cupboard —⁠ ⁠serving the occupants of the house and contributing to stabilising the temperature of the main hall. Inside, the void is interpreted by means of a cross-sectional system, rotated in plan relative to the main axe of the ellipse; it ordinates volumes which include the bedrooms. All around, deep excavations in the outside wall suggest fleeting routes towards the rocks and the wood on the outside; they break up the sky into quadrants. Over the course of days, nights and seasons, the thick reveals of the windows register the changing colours of the celestial hemisphere. Thus the light of the sky makes a mutable architecture, articulating the passing time. So the light colours the space, and changes with itself. In supporting these changes, the fabric remains in its essence: colourless or tending to grey.

worldarchitecturenews.com  , London, 2 July 2007.

Data

• Time: March‑June 2007
• Place: Rome, Italy
• Area: 220 m² (two storeys)
• Typology: detached house

Credit

• Architecture design: Antonino Cardillo
• 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.
• Teresa Morales-García, ‘La Italia más actual… se mueve’ (pdf), Condé Nast Traveler, Madrid, no. 70, p. 43.
• 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. 44‑47.
• Massimo Locci, ‘Sperimentazioni dell’architetto Antonino Cardillo’ (pdf), L’Architetto Italiano, no. 42, Rome, Apr. 2011, pp. 30‑31.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Values transcending time’ (pdf), build Das Architekten-Magazin, no. 4/10, ed. Ralf Ferdinand Broekman and Olaf Winkler, Wuppertal, Aug. 2010, p. 46.
• Thomson Carpenter, ‘Physical poetry’ (pdf), DNA, no. 119, Sydney, Dec. 2009, pp. 104, 107.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Ellipse 1501 House’ (pdf), in Collection: Houses, ed. Michelle Galindo, Braun, Berlin, July 2009, pp. 68‑71.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Ellipse 1501 House’ (pdf), in Concrete Design, Daab, Cologne, March 2009, pp. 136‑143.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Golden aura’ (pdf), Design Today, vol. VIII, no. 4, ed. Mamta Upadhyaya, New Delhi, Jan. 2009, pp. 42‑44.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Антонино Кардилло’ (pdf), in Architects. Designers, vol. 4, exhib. cat., ed. Nikolai Fedotov and Sergei Kovaliov, Artindex, St-Petersburg, Nov. 2008, pp. 150‑151.
• Bettina Dürr, Stefanie Sonnentag, ‘Moderne Architektur: Zukunftsvisionen’ (pdf), in Marco Polo Italien Süd, Mair DuMont, Munich, Oct. 2008, p. 14.
• Vu Tu Tan — The Phuong, ‘Không giống ai’ (pdf), Noi That, no. 70, Hanoi, Sept. 2008, pp. 56‑61.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Studio Antonino Cardillo’ (pdf), Made, no. 9, ed. Benedetta Bagni, Milan, Aug. 2008, pp. 80‑87.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘An ellipse shaped house’ (pdf), Tasarim, no. 181, Istanbul, May 2008, pp. 88, 90‑91.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘几何形状住宅(一)——1501椭圆形房屋’ (pdf), Landscape Architect, Dalian, May 2008, pp. 28‑31.
• Anonymous, ‘Italian architects today in America’ (pdf), Primo, no. 9/2, Washington, Apr. 2008, pp. 24‑25.
• Anna Krenz, ‘Pustka do mieszkania’ (pdf), Vox Design, no. 8, Warsaw, Feb. 2008, pp. 54‑57.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Elliptical esthetics’ (pdf), B1 Magazine, no. 8, Bangkok, Jan. 2008, pp. 122‑123.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Rough ellipse’ (pdf), Perspective, Hong Kong, Oct. 2007, p. 34.
• Jordan Krosnakov, ‘Антонино Кардильо’ (pdf), Мебелен Дизайн, no. 5/07, Sofia, Oct. 2007, pp. 104‑105, 108‑109.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Ellipse 1501 House’ (pdf), L’Arca, no. 229, dir. Cesare Maria Casati, Milan, Oct. 2007, pp. 64‑69.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘Ellipse 1501 House’ (pdf), Modern Design, no. 3, Malaga, Sept. 2007, pp. 44‑47.
• Devyani Jayakar, ‘Celestial vision’ (pdf), Home Review, vol. 6, no. 5, Mumbai, Sept. 2007, pp. 58, 60‑64.
• Jana Martin, ‘My concrete heart’  , moli.com, New York, 20 July 2007.
• Matt Hussey, ‘Ellipse 1501 House’  , thecoolhunter.net, Sydney, 5 July 2007.
• Antonino Cardillo, ‘A total eclipse’  , worldarchitecturenews.com, London, 2 July 2007.