A place for exchanges : a winery in Piedmont

Abstract

"One wants to improve what has been built, and not to spoil what is yet to be done" --L.B. Alberti. Architects are responsible for improving the built environment. the premise for this thesis is that architecture is about transforming/intensifying the landscape through the deployment of built form. Buildings are not isolated instances in time and space but rather part of an ever changing continuum. The scope of the thesis is to recognize physical, spatial and temporal continuities within a specific site and to establish new territorial claims within the landscape to further intensify such continuities. This is accomplished through the deployment of traditional and new (to the site) building systems that shall be informed by the context and programmatic requirements and emphasis is placed on tectonics rather than on typology. The thesis investigates several architectural issues such as how to apply contemporary design principles within a historic context? How to deploy new forms and new materials while respecting the vernacular? How to sensibly deploy built form in the landscape? What is the relationship between public spaces and uses within a traditionally private working environment? What is the effect of new technology as applied to traditional manufacturing industrial processes and how does this affects the design of related buildings? These questions pose a range of dichotomies; thus the title "a place for exchanges". A winery is the vehicle for exploring the issues raised above. The site is a two hectare vineyard that includes an abandoned villa in Piedmont, Italy. The goal for this thesis is for the design process to contribute partial answers to the questions posed earlier . The intention is for the design to reach building completion and to develop a project that humbly intensifies the landscape and its context. The end product is not to be seen as a singular solution but as part of the development and ongoing transformation of a working methodology.