Valentina Audrito grew up in the world of architectural design. The daughter of two internationally recognized architects, perhaps it was her destiny to do the same.
“I couldn’t begin to define my type of architecture in the classic sense. My father’s a post modernist. Me? I am too young to be categorised. I am still finding my way, still developing...”
Your father is an award winning, internationally recognized architect designer. Your mother is also highly regarded in her profession, which happens to be architecture as well. You grew up in a house where more family conversations took place around the drafting table than around the dining table.
Your parents even invented a nifty little architect game, Babylonia, for you. (You pieced those oversized foam pieces together like a seasoned design veteran). Naturally, with the world of architecture enveloping you like a blueprint tube around a set of plans, you dreamt of leaping to heights of fame equal to your parents. More so, you’d do it with grace and fluidity. You have made up your mind at an early age, you want to be a ballerina. (Insert sound of scratching record).
“I never felt like I had to be an architect,’ explains Bali-based Italian architect Valentina Audrito of her upbringing, “I know my father wanted me to study architecture, but it was never a forced issue. I wanted to be a ballerina.” And for a brief time she was. Throughout high-school and during her early days at the Polytechnic University of Turin she danced professionally in a number of small productions, but the time came when she had to choose a curriculum to study and architecture seemed the obvious route.
Born and raised in the northern Italian city of Torino, Audrito’s earliest memories are of cavorting in her parent’s home design office. Her father, Franco Audrito, rose to international fame after designing the cult Bocca sofa – a set of perfectly red, larger than life lips that function as a place to park ones derriere. He later became one of the most sought after architects in the Middle East, was the recipient of the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture and continues to design celebrated buildings, homes and furniture as the director of his design company, Studio 65, of which his daughter is a key contributor.
“Architectural design must evolve, anywhere you are, otherwise everything would just be the same, year after year and that’s not very exciting.”
Audrito is an anomaly in the world of Bali-based architect designers -she is young and she is a woman. But at 34, she has a certain wisdom and knowledge that makes her sound as if she’s been in her profession for many more years than she has; certainly the fallout from her parent’s vocation. She understands the dynamics of an architect’s life and she uses her free-spirited, whimsical attitude to create structures that befit her youthful exuberance, whilst keeping her eyes open to her own experiences and professional growth
“It’s a journey” she confesses from the living room of her Kerobokan home, “an architect’s journey is very long and mine is just getting started.” She thinks for a moment and steals a sip from the perspiring glass of iced-tea in front of her, “I couldn’t begin to define my type of architecture in the classic sense. My father’s a post modernist. Me? I am too young to be categorised. I am still finding my way, still developing.
You evolve with the profession, with your experiences.” When pushed further to describe her aesthetic she speaks of perceived spaces, split levels, clean lines and discovery -not giving too much away in a single glance. There is no doubt, however, that her work is here and now, with a glint of what’s to come. It’s fresh and young, sometimes quirky, and more often than not suited for social trysts, with lounge-style conformability.
Her first major project in Bali was the acclaimed Villa Surga in the then relatively undeveloped, rice field rich area of Umalas. Having spent a considerable amount of time in Bali after university, Audrito begin to familiarise herself with and admire Balinese architecture. “The spaces,” she recalls, “I loved the spaces and how there was a perceivable flow of energy from one area of the house to the next. It all made perfect sense to me.”
Armed with inspiration and knowledge gained from the acclaimed Polytechnic University of Barcelona, where she completed her practical studies in architecture before returning to Torino to receive her degree, she set off to design and develop the 68 are site that would become Surga. The three villa complex teems with Audrito’s interpretation of Bali modern while personifying her approach to design.
Each of the three villas on the site feature vertically offset, wide-open living spaces and common areas. The villas are built to entertain, but retain a definitive sense quaintness through Audrito’s use of here and there lounge areas and comfort zones. “I wanted each area of the house to be tangible to the other areas, but at the same time to be sort of a stage, a place to escape to, but still be within eyesight of the rest of the house, at least in a minimal way.” Her technique is exemplified in an overhead, bowl shaped, lounge area that hovers above the main landing of one of the villas. The elevated lounge is also an example of her propensity for quirkiness and the element of discovery.
Following the Surga project, Audrito decided to make Bali her home and eventually set up her design company, Pianeta Sudest, quickly and quietly receiving commissions from a number of villa owners for both refurbishing and full design projects. Meanwhile, she continued to offer her services to a number of projects in Europe and kept her creative cogs moving with her other passion, furniture design.
Inspired by the birth of her son, in 2004, she designed a playful furniture collection using eggs as the central theme. She took the collection, entitled Le Uova Di Leon, to the Salone Internazionale Del Mobile furniture exhibition in Milan where her installation received critical acclaim and set her off in the familiar footsteps of her father as both a respected architect and furniture designer.
‘The thing I like to see most in people’s reaction to my work is a smile,” says the petite Audrito, who’s currently working on a number of projects in Bali including a seven unit boutique hotel in Seminyak called Kiss. The owners of the project called on Audrito because they wanted something fresh and funky. Each villa will have a different aesthetic, with Audrito pushing the limits of what’s being done on the island without fear of the critic’s screaming “that’s not right for Bali”. “Architectural design must evolve, anywhere you are,” she says “otherwise everything would just be the same, year after year and that’s not very exciting.”
The ballerina in Audrito may be grounded, reduced to dreams of what could have been, but she has already begun to soar in the world of design as a promising young talent with a bright future. The only question that remains is whether her young son will receive a Babylonia set or ballet slippers for his next birthday.
By: Bob Calabritto
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