The new construction is located in a residential district in the south part of Cantone Ticino close to the Italian border, on a  sloped site oriented towards the sunset light, on the southwest.

 

 

Situated close to the hill, the building takes advantage of the ample garden towards the valley. The access is organized with a road located on the lower level of the site. The central block of the new building is inserted in the ground at the garage courtyard level and develops vertically in a turret-like volume establishing a clear fix reference point. The level of the garden is raised about three meters from the road and therefore results to be more intimate, dedicated to the private spaces of the ground floor.

 

 

The cross-shaped composition that characterizes the building is underlined in the expression of the built volumes, with an alternate rhythm of parts more introverted and solid (the tower in stone) and others more light and aerial (the ample surfaces in glass protected by the cantilevering concrete roof).

The combination of these two elements is expressed in the treatment of the materials, with variations in the tones that enhance the different characters: the horizontal volume, that lays in delicate way on the garden, is outlined by the sharp shades that the roof projects on the glass surfaces and on the white plaster walls; the vertical volume is directly exposed to the sun and modifies its expression during days and seasons thanks to the modulations of the play of shades and lights on its skin, that consists in plates of “Istria” stone bush-hammered and engraved along the vertical.

 

 

The sequence of the spaces introducing the entry of the house starting from the road level access is quite articulated: at the lower level the first transition is the paved external court, delimited by the concrete walls that frame the garden; an external staircase, contained among these walls, connects the upper level and the covered entry atrium. On the ground floor the entrance, situated at the center of the tower and in correspondence with the point of overlap of the two house volumes, organizes both the horizontal path toward the living spaces and the vertical one, with the inside staircase that connects the service areas and the garage at the underground floor, the bedrooms at the first floor, and that ends the the sequence of spaces at the second floor with the studio dedicated to the music, set on the top of the building, under the vaulted the roof.

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