The Concrete Villa is a single house on the Comano hills, a small village north of Lugano in Switzerland. The plot was previously occupied by vineyards and characterised by an elongated trapezoid form, which determines the volume. With the interesting views towards the east and west, but with the constraint of having adjacent houses in close proximity toward the north and south, the house is conceived as in inhabited wall. In order to avoid the effect of an excessively long and closed volume but also ensuring a level of privacy, the flank elevations are articulated by a series of deep rectangular fins.

The material of reference used is grey reinforced concrete, declensed in various ways depending on the case. The in-situ cast fins are alternated with infill elements with the old technique of “strollato” used in Lombard villas: a mix of pebbles and cement handsplatted with a trowel and later sanded, thus combining old traditions and new construction techniques.