Homes in the Pastures / AMDL CIRCLE

Curated by Paula Pintos

Architects: AMDL CIRCLE
Area: 430 m²
Year: 2020
Photographs:Max Rommel
Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Chaos Group, Alessi, Artemide, Produzione Privata, Robert McNeel & Associates, Solidworks
Lead Architects: Michele De Lucchi, Angelo Micheli, Elena Naldi, Giacomo Nava, Federica Cevasco

Text description provided by the architects. Le Case del Prato (which translates as “Homes in the Pastures”) are two small wooden architectures that add 6 master bedrooms to the luxury Zirmerhof Hotel, Redagno di Sopra, situated in the verdant mountains of South Tyrol. The two buildings are realized with timber salvaged after the Vaia storm of October 2018, which tore down 14 million trees, also damaging the woodland around the Zirmerhof Hotel.

The Project transformed this felled timber into an installation of art and architecture. The objects and spaces in the “Case del Prato”, all designed by AMDL CIRCLE, contemplate and complement one another. The Case del Prato are conceived as sculptural volumes. They are positioned on sloping pastures, in front of the majestic historicanMaso (farmstead). They are built with timber felled by storm Vaia.

The salvaged pinewood has been used for beams and to build load-bearing walls, while formwork, cladding, and internal walls and floors were realized with the salvaged larchwood. Wood is, of course, the key player in the whole design, chosen for the ability to transform over time while maintaining synergy with the rhythms of nature, also after being felled, sawn, processed, and recomposed. From a formal perspective, the curved lines of the roofs recall the form of traditional barns. Clad with larchwood shingles, the roofs recapture an ancient construction technique that is still used in certain parts of the Dolomites, which enables the cladding of rounded surfaces.

The scenographic interiors are made possible by Produzione Privata, the company founded by Michele De Lucchi to design and produce experimental objects while supporting local artisans. Produzione Privata allows AMDL CIRCLE to create installations where objects and interior design develop alongside the architecture.

The contemporary feel of the environment is determined by the careful and attentive design of every single element. To recall the antique furniture of the farmstead, many of the interior pieces in the Casa del Prato have been realized in walnut and are characterized by certain elements typical of local decor.

The project Vaia’s destruction into architecture: however, the message left by Vaia is quite clear. It is a message that comes from a tale of climate change and that shows us how nature is rebelling against our inconsiderate actions, against those anthropogenic changes that are far from natural.