Hello!

On our renewed website, we would like to share a closer follow-up of the projects we are currently working on at Piano Piano. And what better moment to start than September. We know it is not the beginning of a natural year, but for us, this pause after the summer holidays feels like the start of new experiences. As many know, construction doesn’t come to a complete halt in August, but it does allow, whether by choice or necessity, for a slower pace. So after disconnection and rest, projects are born or continue.

We went on holiday with the project El camino de la Almazara – the adaptation of an old olive mill and washhouse and the regeneration of its natural surroundings in La Artejuela, Arañuel (together with Carpe and Mha) – completed and photographed by Milena Villalba.

We invite anyone who enjoys nature in a quiet, unpretentious way to visit La Artejuela on a peaceful excursion: spend a morning under the shade of the pergola, lie down to read or have a picnic on the bench inside the old mill, where you can also learn about the work that took place there until not so long ago. End the day with a refreshing swim in the pond and a shower overlooking the valley. And leave just as calmly as you arrived, following the paved path, while the lights that guide the way slowly turn on as the sun sets.

We also completed El desfile de la Puri, a full renovation project in València’s Mercat neighborhood. We photographed it with Milena Villalba, and for the first time we had the opportunity to collaborate with a muralist, Gisela Talita, whose work enriched an already very special project. The project began with a complicated layout defined by an inescapable corridor. Through a geometric strategy and diverse use of ceramic patterns, we managed to break it up and improve the spatial quality of the home, thanks also to the work of construction company Recosan and the carpentry of Madentia.

Finally, we also concluded Botànic 2.0, an interior and furniture design project in the neighborhood that gives the project its name. It complemented an earlier renovation of a 1900s home. The multiple and rich colors of the Nolla ceramic mosaics on the floor served as the basis for developing custom furniture pieces, crafted by Lebrel.

We are now about to finish Confeti en Corts, a full renovation in València. Starting from a floor full of history and color, the project draws inspiration to deliver a simple, sensitive, and precise intervention.

And what does this new season bring us? Exciting projects that allow us to keep defending our way of making architecture.

Just before the holidays, we finished demolition work on the old building, and in September we began the foundations of La casa dels arcs, a corner house in València’s Cabanyal neighborhood, built together with Zar Obras y Servicios.

Other single-family housing projects are also underway. At an early stage, we have a project in Llíria that we cannot reveal much about yet, while in a more advanced stage we are working on another project in Castelló. In these initial phases, we begin to capture ideas of well-being in two-dimensional drawings: choosing textures, working with color and materials, and shaping the atmosphere we aim to create.

Several projects are currently waiting for permits, and we are eager to bring them forward: Casa mira qui passa in Cheste and Casa cuatro estaciones in Alfafar, which we have already shared glimpses of on social media. The first was a challenge due to its small size, but we believe it will result in a spatially very interesting project. The second is a corner house in the center of a town that needs to be looked at with care again.

As part of our new-build projects, we are also developing a building of four apartments in the Nazaret neighborhood. Being able to work on new construction in protected environments is a source of pride for us, as it shows that new architecture, when carefully designed and built, can equally dialogue with the existing environment, acknowledging its value while giving it a new sense.

Another project waiting for approval also excites us greatly, as it involves intervening in a heritage building at risk of disappearing: an alquería in the farmlands of Meliana.

Continuing along the line of projects that reclaim València’s peri-urban farmland, from October 18 to November 3 we will participate in the fifth edition of the Miradors de l’Horta festival, a program of ephemeral installations that gathers sensations, reflections, learnings, and mistakes around the huerta. Together with Carpe and Mha, we will carry out an intervention in Bonrepós i Mirambell that will allow us to reflect on the edge plots between the urban and the productive, and how the socio-political context – with measures such as the disappearance of the Consell de l’Horta and continuous attacks on the 2018 Llei de l’Horta – increase the threats on these protected farmland remnants still surrounding some urban centers in l’Horta Nord.

Beyond architectural projects, in recent months we have been focusing on a line of work that excites us: mínima, mínima, our first ceramic collection available for use in architectural applications as wall and floor coverings, made to order. We are working on incorporating it into furniture and product design elements, and we hope to share progress soon.