House in Vipiteno

By Francesco Pagliari - 1 October 2012
Barth Innenausbau has participated in the project

Perched on steep slopes overlooking the northeast Italian town of Vipiteno, the residence called Maso B combines traditional alpine construction typology with modern architectural forms. Architects Gerd Bergmeister and Michaela Wolf of bergmeisterwolf had to work with several separate volumes. Although set at a distance from each other, they are made to dialogue with a programme of common architectural features for all volumes and a physical link in the form of a connecting timber walkway. As well as sitting comfortably alongside each other, the volumes making up the complex also blend with the surrounding built and natural environment. Like the traditional buildings in the area, each hugs the gradient. High dry-stone walls delimiting the property stand just 1.5 metres from either side of the main building and are an artistic throwback to the traditional boundary walls common in these parts. The timber shingle cladding of the outer walls of the main residence also clearly references the alpine tradition, echoing the nearby constructions, in particular the chapel and bell tower standing uphill from the body of the church. The cladding continues up into the intrados of the jutting roof and floor slab, again in deference to alpine building traditions. The shingles making up the meticulously laid pattern were pre-weathered to a silvery hue to blend with the original constructions. The main residence - partly concealed by the dry-stone wall - reaches out towards the valley below, giving the general direction of the whole complex. Large glazed lights occupy much of the southeast and southwest elevations, and provide a picture-postcard backdrop to the living area on the upper floor. Floor slabs and roof project extensively to create protected loggias on the first floor in front of the living area and on the ground floor before the night zone. These extended overhangs create assertively thick geometrical cornices to the building, their...