HOUSE G, Castione Andevenno

The sense of uncluttered minimalism of Casa G makes visiting this bespoke home in northern Italy a truly relaxing experience. Its architect, Sondrio based Italian Alfredo Vanotti, admits to aiming to create a space that felt calm and in touch with the outdoors, like an ‘inhabited terrace’, he says. When his client approached him for a house on a beautiful spot among vineyards, in a historical town on the Rhaetian side of the Alps, the architect jumped at the opportunity. The brief described a house that would be ‘clean, simple and relaxing’, and Vanotti dully obliged, taking his cues from modernist architecture and the nearby mountains (in particular the long vistas towards the Sondrio Alps). By creating long expanses of glass covered openings and placing the structure in a way that follows its elongated plot – whose long side looks out towards the nearby hills and mountains in the distance, the architect achieved a house that captures the sun throughout the year and in all seasons. A 35m-long infinity pool runs parallel to the house’s clean, orthogonal, low shape, and mirrors the surroundings, while enhancing the building’s ethereal linearity.

What makes this project one-of-a-kind?
The main feature is the integration into the territory, it seems that the villa disappears into the environment but actually merges with it.