House Belsito

Through the years Herman Verkerk and Guus Beumer collaborated, being partners, in a variety of ways. Their desire to collaborate with each other has been prone to change. This time they prefer a completely integrated way of working together in which their professional practice and their day to day life becomes inseparable. Exactly that notion forms the reason why they longed for a house that could be the result of this integrated practice. While at the same time the starting point for an extended family. For a house that could become a home.

A home where life can be enjoyed and you are able to reflect on it as well. Not just for ourselves, but also for our friends and for possible strangers. We were able to acquire an old hotel from the fifties which is even after 70 years still the most ‘modern’ building in the ancient city of Arpino, situated one hour from Rome and from Naples and in the province of Lazio. A city shrouded in mystery and said to be founded by the Roman god Saturn. However we know House Belsito is built on an ancient so called cycloptic wall, probably created by the Volsci. A tribe who lived in this area, but long before the Romans or Saturn. Thanks to this great wall, the building on top has become a wonderful metaphor for being inside and outside, for being in the city and in the landscape, for being connected and disconnected. In other words, thanks to this ancient wall, the building itself has become a perfect expression for all the contradictory longings, we all seem to live. And it has spectacular views as well. And therefore, the hotel was called Belsito or Lovely Site, a name to hold on to since the building and its location are indeed a true Belsito.

History

Although the most recent building in town, its history also seems clouded in time. The style of its architecture can be considered Rationalist. Helas, we could find no further insights. (We recently spoke to our neighbor, who is the daughter of the people who sold House Belsito to us and the granddaughter of the people who initiated the hotel and the restaurant; her information is in other words solid. And she told us that her grandfather had designed and built the place himself. This could explain the lack of official information. And that is probably why we even could not trace the name of the architect or the builder. We can also deduct the building underwent some renovations, probably in the seventies of the former century. Now, most of these so called renovations are undone in order to return to the former clarity of perspective. The presumed concept for the architecture is a building that is at the same time rather distant, almost aloof in relation to the street, but open and generous towards the valley. This former concept was revalued by architect Herman Verkerk and although the amount of square meters had to be reduced, House Belsito's architectural perspective is probably nowadays stronger then ever

After a lot of work during the last years and thanks to all the know-how of co-initiator Herman Verkerk and Claudio Cinelli, our builder and his team, House Belsito could be given the kiss of life, following the logic of its architecture. The resulting aesthetic is rooted in the principle of ‘As Found’ and makes use of second-hand materials. However in line with the idea of an extended family many more people contributed to that 'kiss of life'. The rooms for instance only achieved their current quality thanks to the diverse talents of Basile Maree and the unique quality of Alexander van Slobbe to choose and mix colors. And how about the carpentry contributions of Bouwko Landstra and his son Sven! While the bathrooms, once drab and depressing, only became light and breezy thanks to Yvon Schoenmakers. And now House Belsito is once more alive and available to us all.

Current function

House Belsito has one rather large room on the ground floor, which can be used for a variety of functions; from exhibitions and presentations to meetings and discussions. And not to forget food-events or dance-parties. House Belsito is legally an Associazione and one can participate or visit an event by becoming a member.

House Belsito is the name of this cultural organization, celebrating the often forgotten knowledge of the local. House Belsito will of course transform, but always considers itself a cultural organization, available to us all. House Belsito has several roles. One role is to function as a so called House of Schools, where mainly students can disconnect in order to be able to connect and they can for instance be confronted with the layered histories of the ancient city of Arpino.

Another role, next to the House of Schools, is of a cultural projectbureau. Currently the focus lies on the further development of the so called WoolSchool and its workshops. This school is an outcome of our fascination for materials and of so called waste-wool in particular. Bruin, is the official name of our waste-wool project. Bruin is also the starting point of the WoolSchool, which is of course part of the House of Schools. The name Bruin refers to a natural color of the waste wool we are using and Bruin was able to team up with a new network of collaborators, amongst others a Dutch museum and a Dutch knitwear producer. And now this project is financially supported by the RVO in The Netherlands. This collaborative project will first lead to a new ecological yarn, in development by the designoffice, called Ministry of Knits. This yarn will not only be out of Dutch waste-wool, it will form the basis for a newly designed sweater by partner in ‘a crime called waste-wool’ and friend Alexander van Slobbe. This so called ‘Dutch’ sweater - the name will be clarified when you see the actual woolen sweater - becomes available in several shops and on-line from next year onwards.

This will mean that Bruin is able to hold on to the idea of promoting and reflecting on a variety of projects, all making use of waste wool, while our more entrepreneurial ambitions with knitwear are delegated to this network of collaborators. Sadly Bruin, due to our networks, is for the moment predominantly based in The Netherlands, except for the workshops (which are part of the WoolSchool in Arpino) operating under the guidance of Alexander van Slobbe and Anne-Marie Splinter.

Another activity of this cultural projectbureau is the development of an additional day, dedicated to food and music and in collaboration with artist Martin Butler, of the so called Gonfalone. The Gonfalone is a popular festival held each year in August in the city of Arpino. Mister Butler seems everywhere, but he is based in Berlin and we are very happy that he dedicates part of his time to House Belsito. and the Gonfalone.