by The Ganda Castle in Italy renews its interior as an Art Library
Designer Martin Feiersinger reuses the spaces along the outer ring wall of Castello Ganda in Appiano, Italylike an art library and venue of the event. The medieval structure of Ganda Castle that forms four round towers and an outer perimeter wall is significantly transformed through the design developed by the architect, renovating the old stables located in the southwestern segment of the outer perimeter wall and turning them into a art place. All the furniture elements were made to measure by the architect.
The loggia with its three renovated columns leads to the ‘keyhole door’, through which peeks out the rebuilt ‘Red Bar’ area. The bottle-green glazed cutout on the door is reminiscent of an oversized keyhole and alludes to the gate of the gate. The red tiled bar and mirrored chandelier are visible even before entering the interior of the volume. The polished lamp forms a ‘disc dodecahedron’ that points to the designer’s interest in geometry.
the turquoise ‘Sisters’ Seat’ doubles as a chair or step up to the bookshelf | all images by Werner Feiersinger
geometric shapes + vibrant colors adorn the library room
The reconstruction was guided through the book. ‘Divine Proportion’ by Luca Pacioli, published in Venice in 1509, around the time the castle’s circular wall was built. The book includes Leonardo da Vinci’s illustrations of the Platonic solids, from which the interior design was influenced. “In the reconstruction, I devised a strategy of interventions in the fabric of the building that had to remain as invisible as possible. In furnishing the library, on the other hand, I used bold colors and shapes and tried to create a tapestry of interwoven references, ranging from early printed works to contemporary art., shares the Austrian architect.
The interior setup consists of huge arched bookcases and semicircular tables. Strung together, the furniture can be combined by shaping various geometric formations. The hexagonal bar chandeliers suspended in the barrel vault act as technical counterparts to the mirror chandelier, while the ‘Green Georginas’ introduce the ellipse into the geometric cast of characters. Red multi-legged ‘jellyfish stools’ are found throughout the library hallway, along with the turquoise ‘sisters seat’.
the library room is home to arched bookcases, semicircular tables, hexagonal bar sconces, and red “medusa stools”
the red-tiled bar is illuminated by the mirrored chandelier, a dodecahedron chandelier consisting of 12 circular discs
