amelia tavella's casa santa teresa celebrates the nature of corsica

on the french island of corsica, amelia tavella has completed the design of ‘casa santa teresa’. situated on the route des sanguinaires in ajaccio, the native architect has renovated an existing house from the 1950s to create a new seaside residence. just a stone’s throw from the beach, the design focuses on making the most of the idyllic location and celebrating the natural landscape.

all images © thibaut dini

both the exterior and interior architecture are defined by swathes of white surfaces offset by warm timber finishes. the connection between inside and outside is also established by tavella thanks to large, pivoting doors and generous external living spaces, which allow residents to enjoy outdoor summer dinners while looking out across the blue horizon.

the architect, amelia tavella, explains, ‘pivoting doors, alcoves, no partition prevents the view. I wanted beauty to flow, to be an invitation to the horizon, to the imagination.

the program of the house is split over various levels, with the more social areas located on the lower floors and a wooden staircase connecting the upper rooms. at ground level, a stone terrace extends out to a pool area, from which one can access the beach via a few slabbed steps.

in essence, with casa santa teresa, tavella aimed to create a classic summer residence: ‘the smooth white facade never hits the sky, the plants, the flowers remain the guardians of the swimming pool and its terrace. it is the quintessential vacation home, the one that haunts my memory of happy childhood evenings, when the night embraces the day and beauty is a celebration.’

tavella continues, ‘when I build, I don’t defeat. there is no betrayal. I proceed by inclusion. nature invades my projects. she is neither an obstacle nor a hindrance, she is my host whom I celebrate. I adapt to the trees, to the light, to the relief. it’s my way of balancing a modern gesture, architecture, with the tradition of a cliff, a ravine. there is something ancestral with nature. I am moved by it, often. I have so much passion for creating, inventing from an already written history.’