Birds Nest

This beauty-filled place carries a deeper meaning: it is a symbol of life and its resilience, the expression of an architect-artist who envisions his work as the link that re-connects man and nature. In a word: the Case del Prato (Meadow Houses), designed by Michele De Lucchi as an expansion of the Hotel Zirmerhof at Redagno di Sopra, in Alto Adige. The story is worth telling.
In late October 2018, Vaia’s hurricane-force winds destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of forest in the mountains of Northeast Italy. An unprecedented environmental disaster. «I felt as if I had been personally struck by the fury of Vaia», stated De Lucchi, «because that same night, my “Dentro Fuori” work in the Arte Sella Park was split in half by a falling tree. I still recall my horror at the sight of those images. But then, in speaking with my friends at Arte Sella, we understood that the disaster offered us an opportunity to amplify the message of Vaia and re-work it through art and architecture. This is how “Radici al vento, testa nella terra” in the arboretum of the Botanical Gardens in Padua began, crafted from reclaimed trunks and trees felled by the storm. Thus, with the same spirit, I welcomed the idea to build the two Meadow Houses using the felled wood from the forests around the Zirmerhof».
De Lucchi is a long-time loyal customer of the hotel: «We are at 1,500 meters, in the midst of meadows and forests», he explains. «There’s a feeling of peace of mind and well-being that I’ve never found anywhere else. Here, I think and write with an energy I don’t experience in other places».
The Perwanger family, owners of the property, decide to expand it and engage De Lucchi himself to design the project. Which not only increases the space in the existing building but also creates two new structures on what was formerly the hotel’s parking lot. Uplifting the property, and using the “broken” wood from the trees felled by Vaia to do it.
Two small structures take shape, nestled gracefully into the landscape. «What makes them so special are the roofs», remarks the architect. «They’re barn-like in shape and finished with larch wood shingles laid in a way that conforms to rounded surfaces. I was told that moonlight turns the shingles grey. I like the poetic sound of it. Everything in nature is transformed as part of a cycle that makes our planet magnificent». When finished, the rooms «were beautiful even without furniture», continues De Lucchi. «They’re large rooms where everything has a specific significance. The windows, for example, are truly unique architectural objects. They’re like display cases that frame the surrounding landscape». The materials employed are true to the mountain tradition - larch, pine and Swiss stone pine. Left exposed, the beams and other structural elements constitute a simple but powerfully expressive visual rhythm. And they create spaces where antiques and contemporary pieces are comfortable side-by-side. One of the most charming spaces is the two-story common area in one of the two houses. Here, one wall is entirely made of glass - the landscape enters into the room and fills it. An ever-changing panorama. «We ourselves desire and produce constant change», concludes De Lucchi. «For me, today, the house is a moving organism where ongoing juxtapositions and different styles are composed and recomposed. Modernity in homes is no longer expressed through the pairing of things but rather in the harmony of well-thought-out variety».