South Tyrol's new refuge Forestis: the elegance of caring
ASAGGIO
Hospitality
/
Completed
The origins of FORESTIS go back to the year 1912. Doctors were commissioned to carry out various environmental studies at this location. The outstanding conditions here prompted the establishing of a tuberculosis sanatorium, built by architect Otto Wagner in accordance with the doctors’ ideals. However, the outbreak of war and the resulting turmoil prevented the building from being completed according to its original plans. The result was a house made of wood and natural stone with two side wings, in which priests and clergymen found rest until the 1950s.
Now, almost 70 years later, a new chapter is being written.
South Tyrol's new refuge FORESTIS with 62 suites and rooms and the almost 2,000 m² large FORESTIS Spa on the Plose mountain above Brixen, is situated at 1,800 metres above sea level, in a place of peace and power, with nature as its centerpiece and the Dolomites directly in front of it.
Careful handling of the landscape was the premise for the construction of three tree-like towers that let nature take the lead through a clean and linear architectural language. With the same respect, the connecting corridors and areas such as the restaurant and spa were brought into the underground. Continuing the idea of the original healing place, namely the century-old main building of FORESTIS, all the rooms face the sun. The four causal elements, spring water, air, sun and climate, are represented by the interior design and architecture with the use of four natural materials. The stone is a central material: a mineral surface coating allowed the dolomite to enter the building. Glass represents by its transparency the good air quality. The guest is therefore in the middle of the forest, at eye level with the monumental Dolomites, UNESCO World Natural Heritage. The sun strengthens and warms, and that’s why natural warm fabrics have been used to radiate comfort. Walls and ceilings in the suites are made of untreated spruce. In the listed building, which is reminiscent of a large manor house, elements such as the coffered ceilings and the windows were not allowed to be changed. The wooden facade of the historic building, which was built entirely from natural materials from the surrounding area, is tanned by the weather and tanned by the sun. Three sculptural suite towers of different heights, which are modelled on the shape of tree trunks and rise up into the sky like trees and blend harmoniously into the forest landscape, were placed alongside the listed building.
The unusual and innovative architecture of the FORESTIS is unique in the European Alps and brings the guest even closer to the natural spectacle of the Dolomites.
ASAGGIO. The two architects met during their joint studies in Innsbruck and Florence. They graduated together with honors, obtaining the highest marks for their thesis on the railway area of Bolzano, under the supervision of Prof. Marino Moretti. In 2012 they founded the architecture studio ASAGGIO, acronym of the two names and literal expression of their philosophy, embodied by an aesthetic-architectural concept as contemporary as it is shrewd.
A mutual inspiration which, through the many projects carried out together, has evolved into a common path called ASAGGIO. A turning point towards a new perspective on architecture, in which each project places the individual at the center. Love for design and creative passion go hand in hand with the desire to carry out each project to the highest quality standards. But the search for quality does not end with the choice of innovative materials and methods.
