On the out skirts of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Spain’s autonomous Basque community and of the Alava region, a white two-storey house with red rooft iles stands in the midst of a country village, surrounded by fields. The low-rise building, standing solitary away from the other houses in the village, becomes an explosion of pure light when the sun finds its way through the intimidating clouds that sweep inland from across the ocean.
Photo credits: Luciano Busani
The colour of the outer façade was not achieved by painting the surface but by covering it with Kerlite BLACK-WHITE, glued to the façade. Whole 300x100 cm slabs of Kerlite were cut into horizontal strips in three different heights. These were combined in various ways on each of the facades, creating a pleasant effect of movement that is especially marked at the edges. The space around the doors and windows was also clad using pieces cut to size.
Kerlite off cuts were used to cover part of the base around the building; these were broken up roughly and used to make a decorative mosaic with a pleasantly casual aspect.