Casa Malaparte forms part of the collective mythology of architects.
Lying flat atop a cliff on the Isle of Capri, facing out to sea, stuck to the rock like a piece of chewing gum, with its open window in the fireplace, in order to view the sea through fire.
Over the years, the house has stirred emotions, and continues to do so among many.
Here we present two types of documents produced around it, defining of two different scenarios we can find therein.
One: on the islands, nature is the center, the starting point and endpoint of the project, of the scene. In his much-fêted novel La Pelle, writer and owner of the house, Curzio Malaparte, makes protagonists of the construction and its architect. Memorable. (I’m not going to unveil the plot. Have a look later).
Two: the house, in its vigorous dialogue with nature is not lost in the domestic. It is transformed into a scenario, a grandiose setting for memorable moments in life: in his film Le Mépris, Jean-Luc Godard, employs the house, as if it were an instrument of alchemy, to transform Brigitte Bardot into an unattainable goddess. The house as a monumental setting.
Seeing the documents on the filming published here reminds of just how much of stage design architecture can sometimes have.
Josep Lluís Mateo