Casa Blanca is a minimal home located in Madrid, Spain, designed by ideo arquitectura. A resounding commitment to white as a symbol of a new beginning. A traditional house in Madrid doomed to ostracism reformed in white. The essentials of this dwelling were hidden like an exquisite music box forgotten in the attic. This jewel silently screamed, begging to be discovered and freed. Heights of four meters dwarfed by absurd false ceilings, large rooms divided into dark rooms, and solid wooden doors powdered in successive layers of cheap paint, are the primary elements of the box that had to be uncovered. When Virginia del Barco visited the house, she immediately saw the potential. Before leaving, she told the client that she would make her a “white house”. Understanding white, not as a color, but as a material to work with. One of the associations of the color white is nothingness. In architecture, it is the representation of emptiness, that which is devoid of matter. To start working, we made a plaster cube in the studio workshop, and with a chisel we began to dig. We removed material until the interior was empty. We realized that by proposing a series of vaults in the ceilings, we would eliminate shadowy corners. Not only that, we would be able to increase the total surface of light, and also, give the illusion of higher ceilings. The music box now begins to undress. Light flows pure.

Photography by Miguel de Guzmán, Rocio Romero