bergmeisterwolf architekten: sloped structure - best architects 16

bergmeisterwolf architekten

sloped structure

best architects 16

single family homes

Place

Eisack Valley / South Tyrol

Photos

Lukas Schaller

Description

The new homestead, which combines a winery and the winemaker’s residence, seems to grow right out of the ground – set amidst the vineyards overlooking Neustift Abbey in South Tyrol’s Eisack Valley (Valle Isarco). With its terraced structure and stone walls, the building blends in well with the cultivated landscape. The basic idea behind the design was to follow the changing levels of the terrain and build onto the pre-existing stone wall. The house thus became an extension of this wall, integrated into its environment just as living and working are integrated here among the vines. Above a stone wall typical of this vineyard landscape, which defines the basement level, a vine-black concrete wall slab has been placed, parallel to the stone wall but set back a few meters. In a subtle play of intervals and materials, a finely nuanced duality arises between the two walls. The shifting of the volumes creates interim spaces, intimate areas formed out of the architecture and the landscape, as well as public spaces – embedded in the landscape while also projecting above the vineyards. Eight months of the year, the vineyards are green, with the terracing disappearing into the background and the building only partially visible.