Studio8 Architects transforms three historic trulli and a later stone outbuilding into a compact 120-square-meter dwelling on a 2,400-square-meter rural plot in Puglia’s Valle d’Itria, treating the site as a calibrated sequence of time layers. The project preserves mortar-free limestone construction while introducing new volumes, careful openings, and a restrained landscape strategy that connects interiors to olive groves and a pool.
Trullo Mita Technical Information
- Architects: STUDIO8 Architects
- Location: Valle d’Itria, Puglia, Italy
- Gross Area: 120 m2 | 1,292 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2023 – 2024
- Photographs: © Giulia Gallo
We treated the ensemble as a section through time, keeping the structural logic of dry-stone construction legible while allowing contemporary life to occupy the seams between eras.
– Matteo Piotti
Trullo Mita Photographs
Typology and Site: Trulli Heritage in Valle d’Itria
The project consolidates three trulli and a later stone extension within working olive groves, concentrating a small domestic program inside a thick, thermally stable envelope. Trulli construction relies on corbelled limestone and dry joints, which deliver mass, inertia, and vapor permeability —characteristics that remain structurally and environmentally operative after restoration. The 120 square meter built area sits lightly in a 2400 square meter plot where red soil, low walls, and existing trees structure orientation and movement.
Rather than overwrite the palimpsest, the design reads and extends it. Weathering, tooling marks, and irregular coursing are retained as evidence of process, while new work respects the stone’s gravity and scale. Thick walls regulate temperature and absorb diurnal swings; small perforations are preserved where appropriate, and larger openings are introduced only where occupation and views warrant them. The pool and paved thresholds register the terrain without homogenizing it, allowing the grove to remain the primary climatic device for shade, scent, and wind filtration.
Temporal Stratigraphy: A Material Time Gradient
Spatial and material organization follows a left-to-right sequence: original trulli, a century-old enlargement, and two contemporary volumes. The progression is made legible through stone size, joint profile, and surface finish. The trulli retain small, irregular elements and rough arrises; the historic wing shifts to larger, more uniform blocks; the new additions use contemporary limestone courses with tighter tolerances. This controlled gradient resists imitation and clarifies authorship across eras.
Transitions are drawn in both elevation and plan. Quoin details adjust at junctions, mortar expression remains absent in heritage zones, and the depth of reveals changes to accommodate wall thickness and the passage of time. Aperture dimensions increase across the sequence, from the domed rooms’ pinhole openings to broader cuts in the hinge space, culminating in floor-to-ceiling glazing in the new wing. Surface treatments likewise step from patinated stone to subtly dressed faces, creating a readable cadence without stylistic pastiche.
Spatial Organization: Hinge Space, Program, and Light
The century-old extension operates as the project’s hinge and principal room. It serves as an entry and living space, mediating the acoustic and thermal mass of the trulli on one side and the open, glazed volumes on the other. Inserted windows are cut through thick walls with deep sills that serve as seating and storage, while a white, built-in bench aligns circulation and establishes a quiet datum between the rough stone and smoother new finishes.
The trulli are adapted to serve as two bedrooms, where the conical geometry remains intact. Targeted lighting washes the springing lines and apexes to emphasize the domes’ section and the texture of the stone. The new volumes accommodate the kitchen, master bedroom, and shared areas. A concrete island and stainless steel workstation anchor the kitchen as a robust, low-maintenance core. Full-height glazing opens to the grove and pool, turning exterior platforms into seasonal rooms and extending daily routines outward with minimal furnishings and clear thresholds.
Craft and Construction: Dry-Stone Repair and On-Site Methods
Repair work follows traditional dry-stone techniques, replacing damaged pieces in kind to preserve the trulli’s corbelled structural behavior and their hygroscopic performance. The absence of mortar maintains breathability and avoids introducing rigid planes that could concentrate stress. Roof and wall interfaces are rebuilt with the original logic of overlapping courses, and new weathering details are confined to the contemporary volumes.
Collaboration with local stonemasons relies on field coordination rather than drawing-heavy prescription. Colored markings on walls and floors communicate coursing, sill heights, and the edges of new openings, translating design intent into site-readable cues that honor tacit craft knowledge. Services and insulation strategies are concentrated in new construction, routed through cavities and secondary planes to preserve the historic fabric and maintain a clear, expressive hierarchy between old and new work.
Trullo Mita Plans
Trullo Mita Image Gallery
About STUDIO8 Architects
STUDIO8 Architects is a multidisciplinary design studio based in Shanghai, founded in 2014. The firm provides comprehensive services across architecture, interior, visual identity, and FF&E design. Guided by the philosophy “Time is the only expression,” STUDIO8 explores the intersection of history, culture, and contemporary life by emphasizing contextual dialogue and spatial evolution. With a multicultural team, they integrate Eastern and Western influences to craft original, locally resonant, and pragmatic architectural solutions tailored to each project.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Client: Franco Family
- Chief Architects: Shirley Dong, Matteo Piotti, Andrea Maira
- Local Architects: Nicola Francesco D’ippolito
- Brands: Artemide
