The Greenary in Parma by Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota

There’s always something calming about trees—seeing them endure all kinds of different weather conditions and being silent witnesses to all events surrounding us puts me in awe. Perhaps that’s why I feel a sense of serene towards Greenary, a family residence established from a farmhouse renovated around a sixty-year-old tree. A collaborative project between two Italian architectural practices led by Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota, the two architects enthusiastically build around the tree with additional layers for a closer connection—a process and act that reflects on the client’s unwavering connection with nature.

Located in Parma, Italy, Greenary (a play on the words ‘green-granary’) is a restoration of a relatively run-down farmhouse commissioned by Francesco Mutti—CEO of Mutti, a leading European producer of tomato-related products. The building site, which sits on the edge of a factory project that is also in development by the architecture duo is anchored by an existing ficus tree (also known as the Alma tree). Standing proudly at ten metres tall, it was an opportunity for the experimental architecture partners to develop a fusion between architecture and natural elements, especially when the tree species itself was well-suited for indoor living conditions.

While the existing granary towards the end is made into a workspace for Mutti, the main residence was transformed into the living space. Ensuring it is built to appropriate conditions for the Alma, the farmhouse was restructured to allow for maximum light. An introduction of a brick-lattice wall and a south-facing glass wall framed by rusted bronze dominates the space.

The majority of spaces requiring solid partitions are substituted by porous nets in the central flooring, otherwise, an array of metal louvres in the colour of rust that looks like overgrowing roots have neatly taken over the house (in a good way, that is). With enough light to turn the residence into a greenhouse, a combination of considered technology and operable windows and roof enclosures allow for balanced temperature control for both the tree, newly introduced indoor planting and occupants.

The tree—serving as the pillar was also the heart of the house eventuated for a spiral-like arrangement of seven terraces—with three above and three below the entrance level. “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,” Carlo Ratti explains. The curation is an interpretation of Adolf Loos’s principle of the Raumplan that invites visitors to engage with the internal and external surroundings at different levels. With the below-ground levels serving the kitchen and main living area to be at eye-level with the landscape designed by Paolo Pejrone, while ascending towards the horizons beyond. On a flat site over 2.5 hectares, the architects have metaphorically returned varied topography and landscape through architecture.

Thoughtfulness towards the landscape intertwines with vibrant living around the mighty tree, Greenary is really a love letter from the architects’ to the serene landscape in which the house sits. And with every space directing the focal point towards a form of nature and enabling residents to appreciate it in all seasonal forms—it’s a picturesque precedent to study from.