Casa Chiaroscuro

The word ‘monochrome’ gets bandied about a lot in interiors, and indeed, the duo-tonal black and white palette is one that is often employed. Occasionally though, we see a project that truly understands the extreme power that bold contrasts of light and shade can have within a structure’s overall composition.

Charged with creating a “modern, minimal and beautiful” home, Jean-Pierre Biasol of Biasol Studio looked to a technique famously employed by Rembrandt and Caravaggio. “Chiaroscuro, translating to “light dark” in Italian, inspired and guided the design language of Casa Chiaroscuro as we balanced natural light and dark surfaces to create both voluminous and intimate spaces that have a calming effect,” he says.

As a home to a young family, spaces were needed for being together, for solitude and for large family gatherings. “The design brief gave us the freedom to use colour and materials in a way we hadn’t seen before. Floor to ceiling glass windows, sliding doors and a central skylight provide the light, and we designed bold compositions of black oak joinery against a tonal palette to provide depth and contrast in the large, light-filled spaces and to denote the places where the family come together,” he says.

Biasol designed the home’s impressive bathrooms to be deeply immersive spaces. The master ensuite is a luxurious retreat with Fibonacci’s Eventide terrazzo tiles used on the walls, floor and splashback, and its ability to work within lighter or darker spaces is superbly realised here.

The family bathroom, is similarly striking, but here the lighter, more neutral Flannel Flower creates a calm cocoon with a lovely sense of warmth.

“This is a beautifully conceived and executed project by Biasol,” says Fibonacci’s Founder, Michael Karakolis. “I never tire of seeing black contrasts against our products and this one takes it to the next level. It also demonstrates the ability of our products from different collections to complement each other, as here we have products from the Confluence and Intuit ranges working alongside in a project with a really impressive outcome.”