Visite Privée, Casa Kamala, Puglia

Text by Luc Clement and Photography by Mart Engelen

Luc Clement talks about how he fell in love with an incomparably beautiful piece of land in the heel of Italy and how he created his perfect haven of tranquillity.

My first visit to Puglia was in June 2019. Although I had been to Italy many times, this was my first visit to the south. I instantly fell in love with the charm, the vast and unspoilt nature, the warmth of the people, the authenticity and the feeling of freedom. It seemed like time had stood still and Puglia had escaped from the hectic advance of our society. So I decided to search for a place and in February 2023 I found my gem and a couple of months later we closed the deal. On my way to Italy, 18 months ago, I suddenly realised that I still needed a name for the house because, and this is a charming detail, houses still have names and not just a number. Since my childhood I have had a deep love for Africa so it was obvious that the name would be in Swahili. My partner and I started brainstorming and pretty soon ‘kamala’, which means ‘perfect’, came up. After years of searching and living in several places all over, I wanted to make a home as close as possible to perfection. It was quite a challenge but it added an extra dimension to the project: the restoration of the land and the rebuilding of the house. But let’s go back to ‘kamala’. Pretty soon after my arrival in Puglia, I met Eslam, an Egyptian who has lived in Puglia for many years. During one of our conversations, we spoke about the house and, of course, its name. He told me that Swahili is closely related to Arabic and that in Arabic ‘kamala’ means ‘completion and beauty’. Of course I couldn’t be sure but it felt as if the puzzle was finally going to be completed because this was exactly what I had been looking for for the last ten years. But, what was going to be the perfect home for me now? I remembered a quote from Andy Warhol, “I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want”. And this is exactly what I found, a beautiful piece of land, a piece of art, with a breath-taking sea view and great energy. Obviously, the land was not manicured; the word ‘garden’ is never used. Basically it needed to be restored, returning it to nature, planting trees, species that have been here since forever, a small area with some fruit trees and vegetables and a few more ornamental trees near the house. Now I needed to decide what to do with the existing house. As a real nature lover, I have always thought it is a pity that a beautiful, unspoiled piece of nature might be ruined by a construction so that finally nothing remains unspoiled. The human footprint would have to be minimised. The house would have to be reduced to its essence, which for me stands for perfection. The result would have to be a house which as far as possible is at one with the surrounding nature, where the inside reflects the outside without any architectural ego since in the end this can never compete with natural beauty. A house should be a home – a shelter – which we always need but it should also be honest, meaning according to our needs. Honesty is again a key word when we speak about perfection. So basically, we live during the day and sleep at night. I simply divided the house into two parts; a day area and a night area. We don’t need much more. Completion – trying to find the essence. And this does not apply only to the house; this philosophy has become the guideline throughout the whole project. It’s a fantastic adventure which started a little over eighteen months ago and there have been great encounters throughout the process.

Kamala is not just another story about a house but about a way of living. And I would like to thank my dear friend and amazing photographer, Mart, for once again having captured so well the energy and spirit through his eye.