丨意大利丨Alpina Architects

Architects:Alpina Architects

Year:2024

Category:Houses

Design Team:Alpina Architects

City:Vipiteno

Country:Italy

Text description provided by the architects. From Racines, you can look down on Vipiteno from above. Here, architecture blends seamlessly into a striking Alpine landscape; the built environment engages in a measured dialogue with the mountains, respecting centuries-old building traditions rooted in a smart economy of resources and an innate ability to adapt, even through the harshest winters. Within this context stands an old farmhouse, the subject of our intervention, soon to become the home of Lisa and Bert.

Existing Conditions - The project revolves around the renovation of a traditional farmhouse, perched within a landscape where the balance of solid and void, built and natural, defines the very quality of living. This is a typical Alpine farmhouse, characterised by solid stone walls and a double-pitched timber roof. Its internal layout reflects the typological organisation of rural Alpine dwellings: the ground floor is primarily residential, while the attic space has traditionally served as storage and utility space. The floor plan follows a tripartite layout, structured around a central circulation core. One distinctive feature of farmhouses in this valley is the hayloft, which is directly integrated into the main residential volume. Now obsolete in its original function, it offers significant potential for new uses. The challenge of the project is to intervene without disrupting the existing balance—to preserve the essence of the farmhouse, its history, while allowing it to embrace new life.

Vision and Functional Programme - Lisa and Bert, a young couple, envision a home that is both deeply rooted in tradition and open to new ways of living. They dream of a space that enhances their connection to the landscape, allowing for seamless transitions between indoors and outdoors—a home that balances intimate spaces with large openings towards the Alpine surroundings. The programme calls for the division of the building into two distinct residential units: a holiday apartment on the lower floor and the main residence spanning the ground floor and attic. A key design choice is the inversion of conventional living arrangements—placing the main living area in the attic to take advantage of the height and natural light, creating open, panoramic spaces.

Design Approach - The project is based on a reinterpretation of the traditional farmhouse typology, maintaining its primary structural elements while reorganising the interior with a fresh spatial logic. The renovation of the existing building is conceived as an act of continuity—a transformation that renews without erasing, reinterpreting form and function through a contemporary lens while preserving the constructive memory of the place. The ground floor houses the bedrooms, conceived as sheltered, intimate spaces, while the attic is dedicated to the living area, unfolding as a fluid, open space closely connected to the surrounding landscape. The intervention on the hayloft creates a new threshold between the home and the outdoors, providing covered parking and a generous entrance area. A light timber staircase leads up to the upper level, where the kitchen and living room merge into a single, light-filled space, crowned by a rhythmic sequence of exposed beams that amplify the spatial perception. Opposing loggias and fully glazed gables frame breathtaking views of the mountain landscape. Strategically placed skylights ensure carefully calibrated zenithal lighting, strengthening the home's connection to the sky. A Leseerker (a reading bow-window) on the first floor serves as a cosy retreat, offering a suspended view over the valley. New balconies, designed with slender steel cable railings, extend along the east and west façades, creating sheltered outdoor spaces that open directly onto the Alpine scenery. A sequence of vertical wooden slats, arranged in a dynamic rhythm, generates a play of solid and void, filtering views while ensuring privacy and protection.

Materiality - The project embraces a sustainable and site-sensitive approach, selecting local materials and construction techniques that align with tradition. The existing structure is preserved and reinforced, with plastered walls treated in soft, natural pigments that harmonise with the surrounding landscape. The attic extension is clad in larch, a material that evolves over time, acquiring a silver-grey patina that reflects the continuous dialogue between architecture and nature. The balconies, also in larch, reference the Alpine vernacular. This material selection is not merely aesthetic—it expresses a deliberate intent to create an architecture that becomes part of the landscape, where every detail contributes to a larger narrative of memory, historical layering, and dialogue with the territory.

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