Competition: Finalists
Year: 2018
Arte Sella, Trentino - a place where in more than thirty years the mountain and contemporary art meet. Art and Nature merge in a continuous dialogue, whereArtists from all over the world are invited to encounter the Sella Valley to carry out artworks that are nourished by the unique History and nature of the place. In a period of thirty years dance, music and art in all its forms have assiduously attended the paths of Arte Sella, giving way to unique projects and events, for example Fucina Arte Sella and La Natura del Pensiero.
During the night of the 29th October2018 an unprecedented storm hit Arte Sella. It damaged artworks, hectares of secular woods and left a trail of devastation of mud, uprooted stumps and felled trees.
Architects were asked to design following spaces:
1. Museum of the disappeared works.
2. Artist’s house atelier.
3. Auditorium / workshop.
4. Restaurant.
Following project tries to find a place for architecture on the adventuresome path of Arte Sella. Tries to be one of the stops on this road, never dominating the natural order.
Museum of disappeared works
The dramatic events of the past makes it possible for us to understand the fundamental meaning of the museum - to protect the works of art. That’s exactly the reason for our decision of submerging the whole construction into the earth. Local materials merge organically with the modern circular shape. Walls of the museum are built of stone. Standing on the ground one would see only the timber roof, inspired by an ancient method of wood weaving.
Across the beams of the roof you’ll find an interpretation of an Aeolian harp. (Wind harp, named after Aeolus, the Greek “Keeper of the Winds”.) The harp is constructed for the wind and it plays without the intervention of humans.
Every time the wind blows the roof of the museum, makes a soft sound, that can be heard outside as well as in the courtyard, which is located in the center of the museum and is the first space you meet while entering the place. With this musical gesture past obtains an audible body, that can join the present in an intermittent and poetic interaction. We want the nature to coexist with the ruins of the works, the state of which leads back to the nature itself.
Seasonal auditorium / workshop / restaurant
Because of the whole context and the seasonal nature of this function we decided to give the construction a sculptural appearance. Like the museum, main part of the building is submerged under the ground. Only the roof, which is completely covered with grass, is visible above the ground and it changes colors and condition with changing seasons.
This gave us a possibility to divide a year in two - half of it will be used by humans, another half by nature.
The roof is supported by mirror-like, stainless steel columns, that’s nearly invisible and gives it an appearance of floating on air.
The flexible planning of the construction makes it possible that the same parts of the building can be used for different cultural or social uses. Because of the lightness and flexibility of the textile we decide to use it to divide different functions from each other.
Artist’s house atelier
Two qualities - light and privacy converge in our design, that creates a circular, wooden construction with an only light source from the ceiling. The sights are directed to the two main elements of the site - the woods and the mountains. When working or just resting these elements are in a direct communication with the interior as well as the resident.