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4 min read<\/p>\n4 min read<\/p>\n
To understand the first ground-up construction project by Italian architect and designer Massimo Adario, at Castel Madama, in the countryside east of Rome, it\u2019s necessary to take a journey through time and space: back 70 years, to the island of Muuratsalo, Finland. There, on the shore of a lake, the legendary Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto and his wife Elissa built a summer residence they called the \u201cExperimental House.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s completely immersed in the landscape,\u201d Adario says, remembering his first encounter with it years ago. \u201cI was really impressed by the fact that the Experimental House is a very simple project but so powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Rome, Adario has lived, studied, and worked in Spain and the Netherlands. Since opening his own studio in 2007, he has woven design languages and architectural concepts from all these places into his projects, along with his keen eye for collecting. When he began work on Castel Madama, Adario knew immediately that the Experimental House would be the perfect reference. \u201cI was inspired by my early university studies, where the focus was precisely on the Scandinavian approach.\u201d Though the two settings\u2014and the resulting structures\u2014are very different, Adario says, \u201cI felt that Aalto\u2019s way of interacting with the surroundings could guide me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea was to create a small village in which each volume has a specific function.\u201d
\u2014Massimo Adario<\/p>\n
There were challenges, however. Not only was the plot he had to work with sprawling and wild, it included a protected archaeological site, a hidden grotto that needed to be carefully skirted. Nor was he working with any existing structures. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy in Italy to do new construction,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He was also new to this kind of endeavor: Adario\u2019s previous work had focused on interiors. \u201cFor us it was a perfect chance to experiment, to think something through from the beginning and to do everything, starting with the architectural project, the landscape project, and arriving on interiors.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d2071014-d0a8-43b3-af00-0a8bbf181f87.jpg\" "\\"Interior")
Nathalie Krag<\/p>\n
A view into the greenhouse of a home designed by Massimo Adario outside Rome, which contains a collection of low tables by Gianfranco Frattini for Cassina, a chair by Franco Albini, and prints by Piero Dorazio. Top: A chaise longue and a pair of armchairs by Gae Aulenti for Exteta by the pool.<\/p>\n
It helped that the clients were Adario\u2019s cousin, her husband, and an extended family of five. But so many voices meant that they each had their own demands. Adario came up with a solution. \u201cThe idea was to create a small village in which each volume has a specific function,\u201d he says. Adario asked that everyone involved be as honest and open as possible. \u201cOne thing that I can say about them: They always trusted me. Trust is one of the essential points.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would take eight years, but finally the village is close to complete. Like Aalto\u2019s Experimental House, Adario\u2019s project uses patios to expand and merge interior spaces with exterior ones, forming a focal point for the adjacent entrance, living room, kitchen, and bedrooms.<\/p>\n
Aalto used more than 50 types of brick for his Experimental House; they varied in shape, color, installation technique, and surface treatment, and they constituted a kind of living catalog that would test the effects of light, climate, and time on the material. For his project Adario opted for terra-cotta, a material typical of the Roman country-side, but he played with it in unconventional ways. \u201cThe intention was to move away from the traditional rustic look with which it is often associated,\u201d Adario says. His terra-cotta bricks have been polished and formed into patterns that resemble carpets. The glazed and hand-decorated terra-cotta used on the hood of the fireplace, as well as the blue majolica elsewhere, are explicit references to the courtyard of the Experimental House.<\/p>\n
![\"Modern](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f88b639f-672c-407f-8262-d5c7da27752e.jpg\" "\\"Modern")
Nathalie Krag<\/p>\n
A rectangular table from Flair Firenze and a round wood cocktail table anchor the sectional by Mario Marenco for Arflex and armchair by Francesco Faccin. Custom fireplace tiles by Galleria Elena; terra-cotta floor by Fornace Bernasconi.<\/p>\n
The furnishings throughout are a mix of iconic collector\u2019s items and custom pieces made primarily from chestnut wood and metal. For the walls, \u201cwe use a lot of raffia, natural materials,\u201d he says. \u201cI enjoy designing furniture and then mixing it with something new. I don\u2019t think there is a particular period or a particular creator that is better. The connection that you create between elements is more important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The color palette is based on umber and orange, and it plays off structural elements such as the spiral staircase, the greenhouse, and the bay window frames in the kitchen. \u201cIt\u2019s a very colorful project, a tribute to Ca\u2019 Romanino, a brutalist jewel in the hills of Urbino designed by Giancarlo De Carlo, whose work was characterized by, among other things, continuous exchange with Nordic architecture,\u201d Adario says.<\/p>\n
![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cd96ecfc-e1a1-4064-b271-9e510a4cc5da.jpg\" "\\"Interior")
Nathalie Krag<\/p>\n
Chairs by Mario Bellini for Cassina surround a custom table in the dining area. Chandelier by Vittoriano Vigan\u00f2 for Astep; custom wood and iron shelves.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the conversation between the structures on the property, and the link between interior and exterior, that creates the project\u2019s palpable synergy\u2014shapes, colors, and forms that come alive against hills and olive groves. \u201cI really like the relation of the inside and outside,\u201d Adario says. \u201cWhen you move around the house, you always see another space that is outside or inside; you have a view of the hill, a view of the wood.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is an architectural work in the fullest sense, born from direct engagement with the landscape, the materials, and the light\u2014a new construction that has no pre-existing structures to respond to, with all the liberty and responsibility that entails. \u201cThis is a house designed to accommodate a family of people who are particularly dear to me,\u201d Adario says. \u201cOur close, intimate, and lasting bond has greatly facilitated the development of the project, characterized by constant dialogue and complete trust, which allowed me to work with great freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n