"Le Rondini" House in San Colombano - 2013-2018

The existing house was built in the 20th century without any particular character, but as a simple linear house according to local tradition. The House is positioned within a natural basin and lies on a very wide and comfortable plain. A short distance from the house there is the barn, the farm shed is located a short distance from the barn. This sequence of volumes and the wide and comfortable plain were the characteristic elements of the existing building. The theme included as building possibilities a 20 percent expansion of the existing building and additional volume stemming from the building replacement of some storage buildings. The architectural theme therefore referred to a very wide area that included the existing buildings in sequence, the extension of the main one, and a considerable extension. It was quite natural to keep in mind the green area in front of the house and a greater opening of the space towards the mountain so that the extension could be inserted here. The result is the extension of the existing house to the west with a porch on the ground floor and a large room on the first floor, a volume toward the north, staggered and inclined to have a middle courtyard and then the connection through an entrance to the pre-existing house. The existing house is plastered, while the new house is entirely clad in Guamo stones.