‘Like a stone in the landscape’.
Adopting a stealth appearance to sit succinctly within the Swiss Alps, the Montebar Villa by Milanese firm JM Architecture is designed to remain entirely inconspicuous.
Enveloped by mottled grey tiles, the jagged form and dramatic colouring of the villa were devised by Jacopo Mascheroni to compliment the natural landscape and terrain of Medeglia, Switzerland.
The intuitive construction sits on the periphery of a valley, moulded with a six-sided roof which is angled to reflect the natural incline of the mountain. Allowing the glass façade on the south side of the property to display spectacular views of the mountains, vineyards and grazing pastures that surround the house.
“The project was created around the local building code, which imposes each house to have a dark grey pitched roof for a better integration with the environment,” Mascheroni explained to Dezeen.
“Starting from this constraint, the idea developed in to a homogeneous solution using the same material for both the roof and facades, in order to provide the building with a monolithic aspect, like a stone in the landscape.”
The natural, mountainous-inspired aesthetic of the house is formed through rows of stoneware tiles to create a simple, yet imposing form. With a complimenting light strip stretching around the base of the house to differentiate from the dark grey façade and to add a sense of innovation to the property.
In keeping with uniform appearance of the house, folding shutters are decorated in the same grey tiles to align with the property; so when closed they blend naturally with the home’s appearance.
Internally, the spaces are dictated to sit harmoniously within the unique hexagonal format of the home. With the irregular six-sided rooms arranged over one floor, with the tallest point of the pitched house towards the back of the site and the lowest towards the slope to create a natural frame for each room.
Supremely discreet, the Montebar Villa by is a magnificent example of modern and innovative architecture. A new premonition of paradise.
