Architects: Dario Castellino Valeria Cottino Photography: Dario Castellino Construction Period: 2014 Location: Rittana, Italy
The recovery project of the Paraloup hamlet in Valle Stura, symbol of the Resistance and of the abandoned architectural and landscape heritage, is a tangible image of the relationships between natural and anthropic values; configured in the name of the identity of the place, the sustainability of the intervention, the environmental and social quality, the conservation and enhancement of the architectural and landscape heritage, it is based on the fundamental principles of conservation and restoration: recognisability, reversibility and minimum intervention.
The construction method leaves the ruins as a reading of the original wall fabrics, transforming them into containers for the designed boxes. These, made of chestnut wood, an indigenous material with very low environmental impact, have walls and ceilings made of panels with a double layer of wood and interposed insulating material and sheet metal roofing. The existing walls were consolidated and made independent.
A wooden platform cantilevered towards the plain will host an open-air theatre, a design that continues the design idea of the Borgata, that of preserving the spatial and distributional value of both the huts and the existing paths.
Text provided by the architect.
