Deniz Önel

Part of Santo Spirito Apartment · Exteriors & gardens ·

The terrace

The terrace in the afternoon sun: the corten pergola, its roof blades open, grey wing chairs and a dining table beneath

The terrace covers 140 m² among the rooftops of the Oltrarno. I designed a series of outdoor planters for it, made by hand by Massimo Cecconi in rusted copper on stainless-steel frames, and studied their arrangement as carefully as their shape: long planters of dense green along the edges give the terrace its privacy, round ones carry small trees.

At its heart stands the bioclimatic pergola, self-supporting, 4.5 × 4.7 m and 3.2 m high, designed and installed to measure with Nexterior in a corten finish. Its roof is a set of blades that turn up to 135°, open to the sky or closed against sun and rain; on the sides, semi-opaque awnings roll down automatically.

I also designed the four weights that anchor its columns: tapered blocks in the same corten finish.

Materials

  • Rusted copper
  • Stainless steel
  • Corten finish

Specified

Under the pergola: two pairs of wing chairs around a low table, the dining table beyond
The pergola from across the terrace, a grey trolley on castors beside it, the apartment's doors behind
The roof blades half open over the wing chairs
The dining table under the closed roof, woven chairs around a marble top, hedges and flowering shrubs behind
A wing chair and its yellow cushion, the dining table and the planters in flower
Inside the pergola with the side awnings down, the terrace softened through them
The pergola with its roof closed, the copper planters along the edge of the terrace
One awning lowered along the side of the pergola
The pergola closed by its awnings, a translucent room on the terrace
The pergola from the corner, one side screened, the roof blades open
The pergola from the side, a dome and a bell tower above the rooftops
A corten weight at the foot of a pergola column
The tapered weight beside its column, seen side on
A path between two long copper planters, the neighbouring houses beyond
A long planter of dense hedging between two round pots with small trees
The long planters in rusted copper on stainless-steel legs
A curved planter in the foreground, a long one behind
A round planter and a long one meeting at a corner of the terrace
Close up, the copper's patina of rust and green
Two round planters with trees, a low steel tray of pebbles between them
Planters around the skylights, the ramp up to the terrace and the houses of the Oltrarno
The terrace from above: the pergola, the skylights and the planters
The terrace seen straight from above, the pergola at the top, two skylights among the planters

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Exteriors & gardens →