Milanese architect Beatrice Bonzanigo is the architect of an innovative proposal for the hospitality sector, for hotels and resorts to offer their guests a new way to stay in their facilities. It is the Casa Ojalá, whose patent was granted to Bonzanigo at the beginning of 2020. The objective that justifies the design and configuration of this “house” is to create a refuge that can accommodate its tenants for a few days “without altering the physical and existential immersion in the landscape“, and without renouncing comfort and luxury. The means with which it achieves its objective consist of a meticulous selection of materials, the flexibility of the functionality of the spaces, and a design that takes care of the smallest details.
Indeed, Casa Ojalá is reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s ingenuities, both in its general appearance and in its “engineering that seems like fiction, so advanced that it becomes the poetry of flexibility“. The manual operating mechanisms integrated into it allow for flexible use of its 27 m2. The mechanisms, simple to use and practical, are made up of ropes and pulleys, natural leather handles, cranks, wheels and guides, by means of which interior and exterior sliding walls, folding furniture and retractable beds hidden under the mahogany floor are operated. Their action makes it possible to transform the spaces into private or open-plan spaces according to the wishes of the guests. The layout combinations are manifold, from a single space completely open to the surroundings, to a maximum of two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette and a living room, in addition to the crowning upper-circular terrace.
Casa Ojalá is also designed for eco-responsibility, sustainability and self-sufficiency. On the one hand, the high-quality wood used for the cylindrical structure, the textiles made from recycled plastic and the handcrafted Italian ceramics contribute to this. On the other hand, it has a rainwater recovery system and an advanced biological wastewater treatment plant, and provides for the optional installation of photovoltaic panels on a section of the upper terrace. The small bio-ethanol-fuelled fireplace is a further detail of the project’s environmental awareness. However, both the self-sufficiency and the design make the Casa Ojalá suitable for transport and installation in the most varied and remote locations in nature.
Bonzanigo states in the presentation press dossier that the luxury materialised by the Casa Ojalá is “a form of happiness for the guests of the best hotels in the world. A kind of renaissance of craftsmanship as the root of evolution. Beyond the automatisms in travel and in the life of our times, sustained by virtuality and hypertechnology”.
