No.3
IN HABITUS with VILLA CLEA: Discover ways of forming community through spaces, designing architecture, and developing real estate.
Last month, my partner and I took a trip to Milan for Salone, set with the intention to get inspired by the design work showcasing and bring back knowledge and pieces to enrich the communities I serve in LA. As someone deeply entrenched in design-centric real estate, I'm constantly seeking innovative ways to infuse spaces with creativity, whether by reimagining existing homes or building bespoke projects from the ground up alongside my clients.
While I was here, I met with two architects/designers, Allina and Matteo, who founded the site Villa Clea in Milan’s Scalo di Porta Romano district. As visionaries, they purchased an auto mechanic shop and transformed it into a residence that now serves as an art residency too. Transitioning from one urban landscape to another, their project prompted profound reflections on the possibilities of space utilization in densely populated environments. In our interview, delve deeper into their journey and groundbreaking approach:
For future projects to build you may reach out and contact Matteo & Allina directly at info@villaclea.com
Who is who and how did it all come together?
Allina: We met at university studying architecture. After we moved to Belgium working for 4 years at an architectural firm. Mostly doing projects as a duo.
Matteo: She was doing the art and design side of all projects. I was more involved in the composition of the architecture.
Allina: Then we left the rain in Belgium for more sunnier days in Italy. When we came to Italy we began participating in an art residency together. Here we discovered how it feels to be with other creatives. And at the same time, we were also each started a PhD. I did my PhD focusing on artistic intuition.
Matteo: My PhD was focused on domestic romance, to express the importance of emotionality inside spaces. And the fact that emotion is something that you must deal with when you are building, sometimes that gets left out when you build modern and contemporary buildings. And at the same time, I started to build Villa Clea and that became a manifesto.
Living in an urban landscape, like LA or Milan, there are so many challenges faced with owning real estate and finding land to build on due to the density/ scarcity and affordability! How did you guys do this?
Matteo: In fact, the building was originally an auto mechanic shop not meant to be residential, so when the person sold the place, they weren’t aware of what it was going to be transformed into. The process was long and very radical, I had a lot of convincing to do and documents to submit to the city.
Lots of people were saying, you're crazy and not to build in the neighborhood we found it in too
Me: so, what I'm hearing it takes thinking outside the box?
Allina: yes.
The buildings in this neighborhood are very city-like, brick multi-stories, and the architecture you designed here changed the very essence so how did you balance that relationship with the neighborhood to steer away from this notion of gentrification?
Allina: I think two main factors helped.
Matteo: One was the fact that I was working inside the building site a lot, the neighbors saw I was building something, and each time I was meeting with the neighbors outside walking by and talking about what we were doing. Normally other architects when they build at a site they just go there and go away for a while until it's done.
On the other hand, I also was trusting what I was doing. Then we see the results already after like just 7 months of being open to the public. I mean, we receive daily requests to come to see Villa Clea and use it for events, shooting plays, or whatever.
Allina: We also built a garden on the roof so neighbors can see plants and beauty around them. I also open the space for neighbors to come by and engage with them like baking cakes together eating panettone and things like that.
So automatically this started to form a community, how did it evolve into now becoming an artist residency?
Allina: At first it was like the idea of our house and our space of work. Then COVID came, and we realized that to share spaces is important and living together with other creatives was very important from the last experience we had when we attended a residency. So we wanted to implement that sentiment also in our own building.
Matteo: I have to say that each artist that is coming here is bringing also his or her own community to Milan and connecting it worldwide and that is something really nice
Me: I think space is everything. It's like when you finally allow a space for people to come into and to create what they really want. That is just total freedom.
Lastly, what is something you both would share for our generation of builders and the evolution of real estate?
Matteo: My suggestion is to be very consistent going in your direction, but also with an openness of stakes and curiosity of what's going on.
I think having a property is something that is really, important, and having the possibility to be able to share it. The type of people that could be brave to start a process like we did that want to use their power to transform a building into a power of sharing the building.
Allina: This way to own something, it turns into being a responsibility to care for a piece of land or a piece of this world. The place you take care of is the place you also share with others.
My last answer too is about the fact that probably our generation doesn't want to own things, while for our generation I think given the necessity to share spaces and build community is kind of really up to us and will probably be the future of real estate.
Check out what’s on market right now in LA for mixed use commercial + residential spaces, reach out if interested!
DRE 002213442 GO@Habitus-LA.com