Casa Malaparte- Isle of Capri -Italy

Casa Malaparte is a red masonry box with reverse pyramidal stairs leading to the roof patio. On the roof is a freestanding curving white wall of increasing height. It sits on a dangerous cliff 32 meters above the sea overlooking the Gulf of Salerno. Access to this private property is either by foot from the Town of Capri or by boat and a staircase cut into the cliff.Casa Malaparte was abandoned and neglected after the death of Curzio Malaparte in 1957. It suffered both from vandalism and natural elements for many years and was seriously damaged, including the desecration of a beautiful tiled stove, before the first serious renovation started in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

The building was donated to the Foundation Giorgio Ronchi in 1972.Malaparte's great-nephew, Niccolò Rositani, is primarily responsible for restoring the house to a livable state. Much of the original furniture is still there, because it is too large to remove. The marble sunken tub in the bedroom of his mistress still exists and functions. His bedroom and book lined study are still intact. Many Italian industrialists have donated materials for the preservation.
Today the house is used for serious study and certain cultural events in Italy and is admired (and hated) by many architecture enthusiasts worldwide.The house can only be reached by traversing the island. The last twenty minute walk is over private property, belonging to The Ronchi Foundation.

 It takes an hour and a half to walk there from Capri's Piazzetta at the summit of the funiculare from the Marina Grande. The house can be reached by sea, on calm days only, as the waves are cast upon treacherous rocks and there has not been an official pier for many years. From the sea, one must climb 99 steps to reach the house. Malaparte gave his friend and boatman money to open a restaurant which is run by the boatman's son today. It is the only restaurant one would pass on the path from the Piazzetta to the promontory where Tiberius built his palace, Villa Jovis.


The Villa Malaparte was built between 1938 and 1942 on a high promontory on the
 island of Capri, Italy. It is as much a house as it is a sundeck. 
The design is by the owner, poet Curzio Malaparte and famous architect Adalberto Libera.

In the film Le Mépris (1963), dir. Jean-Luc Godard the Villa is owned by a money hungry American movie producer, played with great gusto by Jack Palance. The blonde woman is Brigitte Bardot, the brunette Georgia Moll. The young guy with the hat is Michel Piccoli, the old guy veteran director Fritz Lang who really seems to enjoy himself.

Several books are available on the building.

 Malaparte: Casa Come Me (A House Like Me) edited by Michael McDonough, includes drawings and essays by many prominent artists and architects, such as James Wines, Tom Wolfe, Robert Venturi, Emilio Ambasz, Ettore Sottsass, Michael Graves, Willem Defoe, Peter Eisenman, Wiel Arets and many other luminaries of arts and letters.

 Other books are by Gianni Pettena and Marida Talamona.

Imformation Wikipedia

Cancun - Mexico An underwater museum

PHOTO by ALFRED

A museum
... to restore nature

In Cancun seek the salvation of nature with a very original artistic strategy:
the Underwater Sculpture ....;; These projects will compose an underwater museum aims to preserve the chain of coral growth in the area of Mexico and the Caribbean

An army of concrete figures ... waiting for the sinking of

 Art and nature

 In Cancun, an army of human figures as they are ready for scuba diving ... leaving behind the beach.;; The sculptures will contribute to the creation of artificial coral reefs.

This is a concrete group of people sculptor by Jason DeCaires Taylor, who has proposed building a "bridge" between art and environmental care.

The whole project is called "Silent Evolution"

The presentation of "Silent Evolution" is inspired by real people, including many Mexicans from different walks of life and an underwater base structure for the development of marine life

The first indications of the project are optimistic

The DeCaires Taylor explains that the anxiety over the disappearance of coral is very strong in this tourist area of Mexico, and that this intervention seeks to represent everyone's responsibility to remedy this environmental damage,
... "with an optimistic outlook."

The project: The 'Pot of Hope'

In this underwater museum, located under the water by the end of 2009, the works - such as "The Man Burning", "Dream"or"Planter of Hope (pictured) and others have been inspired by a fisherman.

The project: The "Planter of Hope"... physical standby

The corals will benefit from the chemical composition of cement sculptures to colonize and reproduce ... covering the way - over the years with different colors.

In doing this the DeCaires Taylor wants to show that ... as in many buildings that we build around us, so here ... the human dependence on nature is organic.

The statues are derived from live models.

The DeCaires Taylor live models, included a nun 85 years, a three year old boy, an accountant, a yoga teacher, a student, an acrobat, and even with a BBC journalist .

Project with a scene of daily acts ...

The main set of statues, consists of about 400 statues weighing more than 120 tons. These projects are now immersed in Cancun
.... at the mercy of nature.

In late 2010 early 2011 will begin the third phase:
The Taylor DeCaires and colleagues, the National Marine Park and the Nautical Club of Cancun will invite other artists to contribute their creations in the artistic highlight also the entire surrounding area.