Virgil unbound: Italian Alps ruin becomes dream budget home
When his wife inherited a ruined stable in Italy’s Orobic Alps, architect Alfredo Vanotti reenvisioned the space as a family home, reflecting local craftsmanship and his love of modern design.
To daylight the home, Vanotti created a long skylight and four large windows facing the Valtellina Valley below. To create exterior walls that resembled the “dry stone” technique of the region’s traditional homes, he used local stone and a minimal amount of cement to hold it together.
For the interior, Vanotti used reinforced concrete, along with natural larch and iron, to give the home a more modern feel. “Concrete is misused,” he explains. “It shouldn’t be perfect. The advantage of concrete: it shouldn’t be smooth, beautiful, precise.” The fireplace, sink, bidet, shower, and toilet are all custom-designed from unfinished concrete. To showcase the material’s imperfections, Vanotti chose to leave the material untreated and uncovered. “Concrete is a refined material. You don’t have to hide it.”
With just a “small budget” and relying on help from his father, Vanotti transformed the ruin into a weekend home for his family over the course of five years. He designed the home from the ground up, including the kitchen sink. Everything was designed by the architect, including the concrete sink/bidet/toilet and fireplace. Nearly every detail was personalized, like the door/cupboard handles made from strips of leather.
- Site of EV+A Lab: www.alfredovanottiarchitetto.it/
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The fact that the fireplace leaves marks on the wooden floor isn't "cool because it shows it's used" it's just a design flaw and a huge hazard. this explains why for centuries fireplaces have had stone or metal pads inserted in the floors in front of them... the house wouldn't be too bad if the guy wasn't this pretentious.
I thought it was nice until I saw the bathroom - looked a 1940 prison in Siberia...
The bones of the structure, the walls floors, and stairs express the modernist esthetic: but the home lacks comfort...the toilets are a hardship, so are the dining room chairs. I could not bear a home without a soft, comfortable couch to curl up on, and comfortable, cushioned seating. This is modernism bordering on stoicism. The design is beautiful, the use of light is brilliant, the view is breathtaking.
Form and design seem to have massively outweighed comfort and utility. Not the ratio I would have set personally. The sort of place that looks great in magazines but is actually about as comfortable as living in a hospital corridor.
where's the ex-machina robot.
I like thinking different and trying unusual things, but there is really nothing I like about this house except for the view. It appears to be very uncomfortable and dysfunctional.
"a porcelain toilet in a house like this, no no no! it wouldn't look right" before proceeding to show us the kitchen which uses a cheap plastic shower head for a tap.
Those stairs are terrifying. All I can picture is someone trying to walk down in socks, slipping, and falling on to all the concrete below.
No airlock? This guys gunna get doorcamped for sure.
Interesting to look at but nothing about that space looks inviting or comfortable to me. It's a minimalist museum display- look don't touch. I was going to add that at least he took advantage of the view in the bedroom but he didn't face the beds TOWARDS the window!
i think the stone work outside is perfect...congratulation to his dad who spent 5 years of his retirement building this .for the inside i keep to myself what i think as it is not my house.
Glad to hear the shower head is one of a kind ... I was afraid I would be running into it in all the boutique hotels.
You tube asks me to keep my comment decent.. The view is beautiful.
Besides, he could put glass under the railing. It would make it actually functional and wouldn't sacrifice too much the looks.
This channel is an absolute treasure trove! Your videos are made beautifully and are so pleasant and soothing to watch. The experience is almost hypnotic. Thank you for sharing them!
I really like the exterior look of the house. I would make some changes inside to make it less cold in the winter. All the concrete would make it extremely cold.
That cement toilet and bathroom is horrible.
This is the most provocative design video I can ever recall seeing. Putting form over function stirs up strong feelings in so many, including myself.
It's as cozy as a freezer
I love this home...the location, the stone exterior and the magnificent artwork that is those large, picturesque windows framing the breathtaking view!