Organic design speaks Italian

Bel Air is a residential neighbourhood in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains on the westside of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1923 by entrepreneur and tennis champion Alphonzo Bell based on a masterplan created by landscape architect Mark Daniels.
Located entirely within the Santa Monica Mountains area about twenty kilometres from downtown Los Angeles, Bel Air has long been home to the mansions of some of the most famous international screen personalities such as Alfred Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, Clint Eastwood and Nicolas Cage.
Along with Beverly Hills and the community of Brentwood, Bel Air is part of a high-priced area on the Westside known as the “three Bs”.
This part of the city is home to the new “Stradella” single-family residence designed by DI Group and completed last year. The name is a tribute to the area’s toponymy, as the wife of Bel Air’s founder wanted to give exclusively Italian names to the streets of the new neighbourhood.
The new home, completed in 2021, is among the winners of the Single Family Residential category of the Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition.
This region experiences warm and dry summers and a Mediterranean climate near the mountainous areas. The architects drew inspiration from the landscape and developed a concept that would enhance the organic elements of the building, namely natural stone and wood.
The house incorporates many of the themes of organic architecture, including an open and versatile floor plan and a harmonious relationship between the architecture and the environment, with the presence of natural local elements within the home.
Similar care was devoted to the choice of colours, which blend in harmoniously with the context and light and create a sense of comfortable tactility consistent with the natural appeal of the construction and finishing materials.
The project combines the orthodoxy of the organic architecture movement, which originated in the United States in the early 20th century, with the need for high-end finishes and aesthetics while leaving room for custom-made solutions.
Approximately 12,000 square metres of ceramic tiles were installed on the interior surfaces and façade.
Tiles from Refin’s Tune collection in the colour Rock were chosen for the paving of the outdoor patios.
The same collection is used in the living spaces alternating with the dark-accented surfaces of the Infinity collection, chosen in Concrete Black and Total Black colours.
The spacious bathrooms feature the Epika collection from Supergres in the colour Shell, inspired by a French limestone, along with White and Grey coloured tiles from Imola Ceramica’s Muse collection for the walls. Grey tones are also present in the Pearl surfaces from the H24 collection by Supergres. Also in the bathrooms, walls with stronger accents were created using Black coloured tiles from Imola Ceramica’s Tube collection. Camargue texture tiles from the Stoncrete collection from the same brand were chosen for the spacious shower enclosures. The visually striking surfaces from Ceramica Sant’Agostino’s Form collection bring to mind exposed concrete complete with the impressions left by formwork.