Name: Pierluigi Molteni's Plug-In House
Location: Bologna, Italy
Size/Type: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom modular home
Years lived in: 1 month (September 11 - October 3, 2009)
At the Cersaie exhibition in Bologna this past October, we had the chance to tour a mod Italian home built for the show. The Plug-In House, designed by Italian architect Pierluigi Molteni in collaboration with Alessia Curella and Sophie Berianidze, is a modular home that's centered on a hallway, or "spine," from which rooms branch off. It seemed like we couldn't turn a corner without finding something out of the ordinary.
The idea is that rooms and porches can be "plugged in" to the central spine in different combinations. Every room has large windows or sliding doors that flood the interiors with sunlight. A green roof covers the home, and front, side, and back porches extend from the main structure.
Everything about the home is offbeat, from the sculptures on the lawn to the stuffed birds and avant-garde furnishings by Italian companies Muzzarelli, Lago, and Desalto. We found our favorite pieces in the bedroom: a bed that appears to float above the floor and a wooden crib with outer storage pockets and a fabric mosquito net. The red and black bathroom tile was aso eye-catching, as were the triangular wall-mounted bookshelves.
Resources:
Architecture: Pierluigi Molteni with Alessia Curella and Sophie Berianidze
Furnishings: Muzzarelli, Lago, Desalto
Artwork: Chizu Kobayashi
Accessories: Camera con Vista
Ceramic Floor and Wall Coverings: Lea Ceramiche
Concrete Materials and Workmanship: Il Cantiere
Corian Materials and Workmanship: Altha
Doors: Synua di Oikos
Green Roof: Optima Giardini Pensili
Kitchen: Elleci
Landscaping: Studio Rigolli
Lighting: Viabizzuno
Masonry: Esse3 Construzioni
Structural Wood: Falegnameria Cereghini, Alce
Tech Systems: Innovatech
Wood Finishes: Gasser
Images: Sarah Coffey
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interesting home, it would be great to see a floorplan and square footage. very nice other than the dead birds
Yeah - the dead birds kind of creep me out.
I am amazed by the floating bed and in love with all the wire sculptures. Cool stone wall too.
i love the speakers in the living room
I see some really beautiful details, but this floorplan seems to waste space. I also would love to see the floorplan and square footage.
I love the cooktop! Where can I get one like that?
About the floorplan: http://www.pierluigimolteni.it/
Wow!!!!! Great idea....
really loved the glass divisions on the white shelves.... basically invisible but quite architectural....
The wire art is really awesome too.....
Anyone know who makes those hanging speakers in the living room??
those hanging speakers are great.
the stone wall is similar to barriers that are made by Hesco, which were designed for the military but also used in architecture & landscaping:
http://www.hesco.com/US_CIVIL/architecture.html
Italian furniture such as Molteni & Co., Desalto, Cassina etc. is beautiful, but it is priced for the rich and not for the average Italian, whose wages average among the lowest in Europe. PS. Those stainless steel cooktops (Smeg?) spoil very quickly...
I want to like this but there's something really perfunctory and joyless about the way all the pieces are assembled. Zoe hit it right on the head except even the individual rooms leave me cold.
Who makes the large format bathroom wall tile?
Nice, without a doubt, but a bit too staged. Unless the wire sculptor’s new girl/boyfriend there needn't be a figurine in every room. The living room consoles-- white with globes abound -- Looks nice, and there was probably some GREAT philosophical blurb about angles and space and lessness, but it's very impractical -- though the bundles of cash, a-la "tied up in strings" are a good effort. & the one with National Geographic facsimiles: If I need a bookshelf, note to builder: honor right angles.
i like the wood flooring - it looks like large plywood pieces - do you remember what it was or can anyone source it?
The architecture of the home is great, from the bit that I can see, but the styling is awful. Watching these photos I wanted to jump in and neaten the place. What's with the plastic bottles? And the bookcase has a bunch of little books, that are arranged completely messy. I understand that book cases don't have to look flawless, but these look like they just dumped the books on them.
as gorgeous as this house is, i couldnt stand the cars right outside my bedroom window
I'm so turned off by the dead (i.e. murdered) birds that nothing else in the house seems pleasing.
I like the glossy vertical panels in the dining room - they both provide colour and reflect light around.
I, on the other hand, am a HUGE fan of the dead birds.
I love the red sofa on the living room. I did like the ensemble of the rooms, about the bird. Yes.,.. my Greenpeace piece of soul was upset, BUT I have to admit I laugh when I saw it, and found it to be ingenues.
What I love about this place is that everything in it seems designed for an immediate reaction. The floating bed, the weighted crib, the disorderly books, the grounded and stuffed birds...it's conceptual, yes, but what I take away most from it is how to design with shocking elements that beg for an immediate response. I may try that disorderly book shelf and see how many of my guests feel the frantic urge to tidy it up right away.
Nix on the dead birds.
Gattaca001, are you saying the dead birds are ingenues (a la Audrey Hepburn, the quintessential ingenue) or ingenious? What is so ingenious about taxidermy?
OK, I liked the wire sculptures, although they were oddly ubiquitous.
Did anyone mention the interesting bathroom sink? It seemed really new to me.
I didn't get a real feel for the layout of the house at all because there were too many close shots. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. And I like my pets alive and warm lol
The bed and wire wall art are great, but I just can't get past the birds...!
What a beautiful modern place.I like the shelves and the burgandy colors.I have never seen a faucet like that before.Very nice.