The building is constructed in a residential area characterized by two-storey single-family buildings, not far from the centre of Lugano, but in a more elevated position. From the site there is an open view of the lake and Mount San Salvatore.
The house is built entirely of fair-faced concrete, measures 23.5m x 10m x h6.6m and is positioned close to the road in order to create as large a garden as possible.
The house is a parallelepiped that has been excavated and sculpted in various ways, creating an alternation of solids and voids that lighten the monolithic volume of the building.
Full-height vertical cuts along the main façades, hollows and recesses at the corners of the volume; they enrich the building while simultaneously reducing its visual impact.
The elevation towards the street is very closed, with few openings, in order to favour privacy. Large glass surfaces are inserted inside the hollowed-out volumes, creating an internal visual continuity between the different living spaces and long, foreshortened views to the outside and the landscape.
The programme is distributed over two floors: on the ground floor the garage, entrance and sleeping area; on the upper floor the living area with a studio, kitchen, dining room, living room and a large covered terrace.
The full-height sliding doors and windows allow spatial continuity between inside and outside by connecting the kitchen and living area with the covered terrace that is open on two sides of the south corner of the building towards the panoramic view.
The continuity of space is also underlined by the same flooring that continues from the kitchen-living room onto the terrace.
The exterior of the building is hard, mineral and cold while the interior is characterised by warm colours and wood. The entrance to the villa is a double-height space characterised by zenithal lighting and the staircase connecting the two floors of the villa. Text description by the architects.
