Casa LL: A Residence Sculpted by Light

Located on the southern edge of Milan, Casa LL is a private residence by P•A•N Filippo Cattapan e Davide Macchi architetti created through the adaptive reuse of a postmodern office building.

The project achieves its architectural identity by modeling voids and spaces with light and exposed untreated materials. As a result, both natural and artificial light serve as focal points of the project.

Light and materials

Extensive structural work expanded the building’s already large volumes to create the 250 m2 residence. This improved daylighting and produced ceiling heights of nearly eight meters through a composition of barrel vaults and pyramidal, prismatic, spherical, and cylindrical geometries. Inside the pyramidal volumes on the first floor, the light – a combination of natural light from skylights and integrated artificial sources – opens the spaces toward a perceived infinity through a continuous interplay of chiaroscuro. This constantly redefines boundaries and depths, transforming the architecture into a dynamic organism.

The conceptual heart of the residence is its open-plan half – a soaring, deep volume without a designated function that creates a meditative mood. A sculptural, reflective balustrade directs the eye upward toward the vault, amplifying the sense of verticality.

By contrast, the other half of the building is organized as a cluster of more intimate volumes that house the domestic functions. This system of compact spaces, each with its own formal identity, is arranged around the large central volume to balance openness with introspection.

A stark and consistent material palette characterizes the spaces. Galvanized steel, a recurring element throughout the home, complements the existing glass blocks to produce textured reflections. Large radiused steel plates interact with Chilean pine plywood cabinetry, precast concrete kitchen elements, green Beola stone in the bathrooms, industrial parquet, and microcement. Outside, metal gratings and gravel mark out a garden balanced between the natural and industrial.

Inside, white surfaces differentiate the voids – including masonry and recessed cabinetry – rendering the volumes legible through a measured interplay of light and shadow. Casa LL questions the essence of domestic living to create a space that, through its expressive power, becomes a home.

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