Villa San Valentino by Stephan Unger
Austrian architect Stephan Unger designed the Villa San Valentino in Merano-Alto Adige, Italy.
Full description after the photos….
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Villa San Valentino by Stephan Unger
Task: Planning of a bi-familiar house on high architectonic level for the cohabitation of 3 generations with common spaces.
Idea: To create a monolithic house with common spaces, under whose roof two independent habitation units are unified.
Orientation: Considering the orientation of the views. The east-wing is looking towards Valle d’adige and the west-wing Val Venosta.
Design: The form answers to the characteristics of local mountains and its three-dimensional facade to the path oft he sun. The windows and the shadings are positioned such way, that the energy balance is optimized and the panorama is introduced in picture frames.
Appearance: A modern house with a traditional dressing : The larch-wood shingle façade is representing the traditional craft of the Alps-region Upper Adige.
Interior: The chosen materials are typical for the place: marble of Lasa, porphyr, granite, wood of the larch and the oak.
Visit Stephan Unger’s website – here.
Photography by Gunther Stckklauser
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djs on 03 Jun 2010 at 12:27 pm #
long live the shirtless photographer, and its an interesting house
TW on 03 Jun 2010 at 6:31 pm #
I love the exterior of this house. I love the idea of taking the shape of the mountains as a basis for the design. And it is going to be really beautiful once the shingles weather.
The interior is a real let down though. They are so unexciting after the promise of what was to come.
LOL at the the shirtless photographer! Priceless!
chris on 03 Jun 2010 at 7:31 pm #
This is great. Very original design.
Chong Hor Ooi on 03 Jun 2010 at 8:50 pm #
Beautiful out look and as well as interior..
Jimw on 03 Jun 2010 at 8:55 pm #
On a previous Contemporist post, the “Echo” house was criticized for a totally new interior ignoring the aesthetic (and functional) heritage of the existing shell. The criticism missed the architect’s premise of taking a functionally antiquated home and make it work in today’s lifestyle and culture while presenting a dynamic dialogue between past and present.
Other than being a fabulously dynamic form – and from what little of the interiors that are presented- this design is a shallow, “skin deep” obsession of only making a form statement. The interiors appear to be garden variety at best…they could be from any house. There is no dialogue between space and form. Overall, a tremendous letdown; an opportunity to be seized but ignored. A very juvenile attempt at architecture. The Echo house far exceeded this project in it’s design exploration and resolution.
Kristof Lenz on 03 Jun 2010 at 9:09 pm #
I love the exterior, but the interior is rather average.
Doug on 04 Jun 2010 at 8:23 am #
I’m guessing the heartache over the interiors is from the bedroom shot, with the crazy sloppy valence. I imagine that the interior wasn’t complete at the time of the shoot (note the dangling bare bulbs in the black and whites) and that they took whatever photos could be had.
Given the detailing on the exterior, I’d give them a pass until there are better interior shots available. I’m guessing the entire glazed flanking ends will be quite impressive once they are kitted out and there is some perspective given of not just the windows.
But all in all its quite a graceful form, and I’d be happy to have this as my neighbor any day. But the bed and valence really need to go.
marshen on 05 Jun 2010 at 1:26 am #
Great shape to the house. Need more interior shots of the main spaces to properly tear it apart or love it.
Lance on 05 Jun 2010 at 6:15 am #
Noah’s Ark 2010.
spasmody on 05 Jun 2010 at 6:35 am #
for once, not a white and white house! Nice work