Casa Malaparte

Casa Malaparte perches on the cliffs of Punta Massullo on the eastern side of Capri, its design credited jointly to the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte, who commissioned and closely directed the project as his own residence, and the architect Adalberto Libera, with construction beginning in 1937. The house takes the form of a red masonry box set 32 meters above the sea, reached by a reversed pyramidal staircase that climbs to a roof terrace bounded by a freestanding curved white wall of increasing height, a composition widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Italian modern architecture. The house fell into disrepair and stood largely abandoned after Malaparte's death in 1957, until restoration work carried out through the 1980s and 1990s recovered much of its original interior. It became internationally famous well beyond architectural circles through Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt, whose interior and rooftop scenes were filmed at the house and remain closely associated with its image. The Giorgio Ronchi Foundation now manages the restored property, which hosts cultural events and scholarly study rather than serving as a private residence.