Inspired by the suburbs of ancient Athens

Encino is a neighbourhood of Los Angeles that stretches across the southern section of the San Fernando Valley.
The name derives from Rancho Los Encinos or «Ranch of the Oaks», a small portion of land managed by Native Americans after the territories occupied by the Spanish government were abandoned in the early 19th century. The area is a popular destination for a clientele who can afford to live in private villas in a hilly area offering magnificent views of the city, leading to the construction of numerous large, premium priced properties.
The villa known as Academia, designed by DI Group, is one of the winners in the «Single Family Residential» category of the 2022 edition of the Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition, which recognises the most beautiful projects carried out in North America using Italian products.
The building features a large terrace offering a unique panoramic view of Los Angeles. The architecture’s modern style is reflected in the linearity and purity of the interiors, where colour is used to highlight the walls of the large rooms and the double height spaces facing onto the exteriors, allowing the different areas and their functions to be clearly identified.
The developer’s aim was to create spaces capable of accommodating the needs of very different users, whether a single person or a large family.
The rooms therefore had to follow different spatial concepts with equally varied and unexpected views of the surroundings.
The ceramic surfaces, textures and colours were used to create different accents within an overall sense of unity, while also experimenting with distinctive designs and geometries.
Around 10,000 square metres of ceramic surfaces from Refin, Florim and Supergres were supplied for the project.
In particular, the accent floor and wall surfaces were tiled with Florim’s Stone collection in the colour Nero Marquina and Refin’s Wide collection in the Chalk, Steel and Lead Strutturato versions, as well as Overlay in the Real version. The paler coloured areas feature the use of Refin’s collections Overlay in the texture Paper and Arte Pura in the colour Trame Luna. The bathroom proved to be an ideal application for the Art collection from Supergres, chosen in the soft Clay colour while retaining the tactile effect of cement surfaces.