Row houses and Villa in Bernareggio, Italy   1991-1998/2000

Project
1991-1994

Realization
1996-1998/2000

Location
Bernareggio (MI), Italy

Commissioned by
Leader srl, Paderno

Partner Architects
Fabiano Redaelli and Anna Bruna Vertemati

Surface area
row houses 5'670 m²
villa 2'560 m²       

Volume
8'000 m²

Dimensions
row houses 90 x 16.60 m, villa 30 x 16.60 m, radius 30 m, height 9.30 m


The original idea of the project is grown on one hand from the urban conditions and rules, and on the other hand from the quality and interpretation of the site. The construction emerges as a strong mark in between  the plain and the foothill further back, almost as part of the city walls.
The scheme of ten houses is given the overall form of a wall-like, single rectilinear construction along the road from Bernareggio to the Alpine foothills. The compact wall surface is actually broken up by recesses and cavities designed to separate the various housing units. The solid image of the construction is further strengthened by indenting the windows in the recessed areas containing a series of complementary spaces for the domestic landscape in the form of deep porticos and loggias.
The scheme of the ten units facing the road, ends up with a villa, facing the opposite direction and thus opens up to the landscape on the other side. What appears to be a rectilinear element is in reality a dissected cylinder. The project is based on the contrast between the fortress like linear front wall on east and the oversized portico carved into the curved volume on the west side. Cuts create covered transitional spaces on the exterior, and voids in the interior connect all floors visually. The difference between the two is there to relate the villa to the houses and the complex as a whole to the landscape.