The building stands in the borough of Santa Maria, place of pilgrimage near Dobbiaco. At the edge of the village, the site consists of a slope towards South, facing the sun and the Dolomites.
Category: Residential, Interior
Client: Private
Location: Dobbiaco, Italy
Completed: 2016
The idea of the project was developed starting from the restrictions imposed by legislation, such as minimized building surface and the requirement of a pitched roof parallel to the slope. The final volume and the concept of the whole project is the result of a subtraction process. Starting with the maximum volume (as derived from given height and surface) certain parts of the volume were substracted to create specific functions; a covered space for parking, balconies protected from the weather, and the terraces in the attic level which introduce light into the house.
While achieving the maximum volume permitted by law, the size of the building is reduced and resulted in a very compact internal circulation. The house is divided into two dwellings. The main house, used by the family of the client, is set over 3 floors. At the entry level there are the bedrooms, at the lower level the living area and kitchen with access to the garden and in the basement the secondary rooms. In the small attic there is a second apartment, which enjoys spacious terraces obtained from the volumetric removal.
MATERIAL
The choice of materials follows the philosophy of reduce, which is proper the entire building. Exterior walls and roof are made with one single material, white cedar shingles, a traditional local material system with exceptional resistance to weathering. Initially pearl-colored, it will over time change into a uniform light grey. The only other material are the glazing, used for the entire height of the openings, and the metal frames and stainless steel edge details.
Plasma Studio
The term Plasma comes from Classic Greek and means modeling, form, fabric, imagination, fiction. In Physics the Plasma State- or fourth state of matter- describes a unique condition of matter arising at a complex overlay of external forces. Plasma, a charged field of particles, conducts energy.
Folding space into space, Plasma draws landscapes into buildings, streets into façades, inside to outside. Transformative tectonics set spaces, planes and bodies into unforeseen relationships that challenge conventional topographies and spatial codes. An architecture of trajectory and momentum, which responds to the specificities of the local context and the possibilities of engagement.
Plasma has evolved to productively engage with the complex potentials and challenges of today:
Its diverse studio locations in Beijing, Hong Kong and Bolzano enable the practice to mediate local conditions and particularities with a global scope and outlook.
Plasma studio was founded by Eva Castro and Holger Kehne in London 1999, in 2002 Ulla Hell opened Plasma studio Italy in Sesto (BZ) and in 2011 followed the opening of Plasma in China and Partner Chuan Wang joined as partner.