18018EH_FO
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
(Credits ©MikaelOlsson)


And now my meandering takes
to that composition glimpsed from
the SS115, scattered around, inside
and on top of that rocky porous
tuff, that aromatic hill.
Olive, almond and citrus trees
alongside bushes of local caper
and thyme, engaged in their battle
to conquer the travertine ground
as the six senses take over.


FO
Loping up the dirt road, slowly I approach the hilltop.
The song and breath of the wind commands the scene and takes centre stage on the stormy hill.

No trace of trees. Only rocks, thyme and caper here survive. As though by the stroke of a magic wand, the wind suddenly disappears.
A curved concrete wall on my side silently enters the scene and like a discreet butler guides my way. A hybrid composition of static and dynamic walls forms wind screens around the rocky territory, revealing the trick.

To the entrance and into the house I am led.
An imposing cross-shaped stone wall provides the fulcrum of a scissor and obstructs my path. The program is sliced and ordered by it. Traces of organisms from a distant past are imprisoned in the stone blocks. Under the concrete roof, different places coexist.
(Credits ©MikaelOlsson)

The day area roosts atop a natural pre-existing rock terrace and the enchanted valley below absorbs me.
I make my way back to the stone fulcrum and down the stairs into a cavernous tunnel.
No light, no sight until the rooms are reached. Landscape bursts in.
To the shady corridor and up to the stairs I return, out on the rocky ground I step.
Leaning on the soft stone carpet in between the breathtaking baroque sunset and the sea horizon, I give myself up.
FACTS

Design Team + Project & Construction Management
FONDAMENTA
Collaborators: Nicholas Compagnoni, Alberto Smaldone, Chiara Carraro, Gabriele Pagani, Pusterla Francesco (BIM Manager)

Interior Design
FONDAMENTA

Structural engineering
B&C Associati (Prof. Ing. Antonio Capsoni)

Consultants
Ing. Marco Cannarella (Local Office)
ZH spinoff Politecnico di Milano (HVAC-MEP Engineering)
Dott. Santarosa Ranieri (Geoligist)

Contractor
Avola 21 s.c.a.r.l (Construction company)

Client
Private

Building data
Gross Floor Area 209 sqm
Number of Levels: 1

Chronology
Design March 2019 – September 2020
Construction October 2021 – December 2022

Location
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
Top
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18018_EH_RP02
2018
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
Click here
22038_SOLE
2022
Milano, Lombardia, Italy
Click here
20027_FIGURA
2020
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
Click here
18018_EH_RP01
2018
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
Click here
18018_EH_FO
2022
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
Click here
18018_EH_SR
2018
Val di Noto, Sicilia, Italy
Click here
16010_CM
2016
Monforte d'alba, Piemonte, Italy
Click here
18015_CP11
2018
Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy
Click here
21035_M30
2021
Via Meli, Milano, Italy
Click here
18019_HM
2018
Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland
Projects list
 
 
Projects
2023
CASABELLA
Magazine. Issue 947-948
Publication
2022
Area
Magazine. Issue 185. Eighteen Italian stories
Publication
2022
Pro Bauhaus
Magazine. Issue 6
Publication
2022
ELECTA
Nuove cantine italiane Casabella
Publication
2021
CASABELLA
Magazine. Issue 921. Cantina dei 5 sogni, Monforte d’Alba.
Publication
2020
Platform
Magazine. Issue 28. Best Italian Architects under 40.
Publication
2020
SuperPosition
Magazine. Issue 01. A Journey through Fondamenta Homes.
Publication
2023
ETH, IEA Lectures Series FS23, Zurigo, CH.
Fondamenta, The Economy of the Project
Lecture
2023
SEU, Nanjing, China.
The Economy of the Project
Lecture
2022
PROSPECTIVES, Bartlet Journal. Issue 02
The Algorithmic Form. Office Fondamenta.
Lecture
2021
CASABELLA FORMAZIONE
Giovani architetti italiani. Fondamenta + Supervoid,
Lecture
2021
TEDEA, IUAV, Venice, IT
Architetture. Affresco Italiano. Seminary FORM.
Lecture
2021
BARTLET B-pro, London, UK
The Algorithimc form
Lecture
Publications + lectures list
 
 
 
Press
FONDAMENTA was born in 2016, it’s run by Francesca Beatrice Gagliardi e Federico Rossi and is based in Milan, Italy.

Milan-based FONDAMENTA was founded by Francesca Gagliardi and Federico Rossi. Strong is the belief in research and experimentation applied to construction where building is the end to which architecture must strive to become itself and technology the tool used to reach this result. FONDAMENTA questions conventions and supports contradictions. Fascination for structure and freedom from dogma represent the premises for the research; Structure traces space, organizes the program and generates the building. Governance of architecture through technology is believed to be the key to the creation of an organism.Technology drives efficiency, precision and control through the entire process. In 2019 the studio completed its first new building, the Winery of Monforte d’Alba, and is currently dealing with different scale projects, starting from a domestic infrastructure masterplan in Val di Noto, Sicily. Surrealism reigns supreme. FONDAMENTA believes in synergies between professional and academic worlds. Invited to lecture and publish on several international institutions and platforms, FONDAMENTA taught as Academic Guest at ETH - Zürich in 2022-2023 with the Master design course The Economy of the Project.


Collaborators
Nicholas Compagnoni, Luca Redaelli, Giovanni Cesaretti, Francesco Riccardo Toso, Francesco Telesa, Francesco Pusterla, Andrea Rossi.
from 2016
Alberto Smaldone, Chiara Carraro, Diana Spagnulo, Tommaso Tugnoli, Dario Biscaro, Gabriele Pagani, Marina Montresor, Caterina Spadoni, Matteo Broggini, Alessandro Zanella, Margherita Massafra.
Francesca Gagliardi was born in 1987 Milan, Italy. She studied Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland gaining her diploma in 2012. She worked for Aires Mateus in Lisbon - Portugal, Ensamble Studio - Anton Garcia Abril in Madrid - Spain, and Christian Kerez, Zurich - Switzerland. In 2016 she co-founded FONDAMENTA.
In 2022 it has been appointed Academic Guest at the ETH Zurich invited by Christian Kerez, running the Master design course: Studio Fondamenta: The Economomy of the project.

Federico Rossi was born in 1987 Como, Italy.
He studied Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland and at KTH Stockholm, Sweden gaining his diploma in 2012. In 2012 co-founded OSA, Associazione Studenti Accademia Mendrisio and in 2013 he co-published the research ATLAS How we Learn to stop Worrying and Love the Tradition.
From 2013 to 2015 worked at Christian Kerez office, Zurich, CH being responsible of international Project. From 2015 to 2019 he has been Assistent for Christian Kerez Chair, at the first year and Master at ETH, Zurich, CH. In 2016 he co-founded FONDAMENTA.
In 2018 together with H.Killer he has been responsable for the Studio PROJECT BERLIN 200.000 Housing Units for Berlin, at ETH, Zurich and based in Berlin, Germany.
In 2019, together with J.Kacani, H. Killer, G. Ledermann he has been responsible of the Chair of Christian Kerez running his personal Studio STUDIO PANORAMA: 14 Views on Contemporary Architecture at ETH, Zurich, CH.
n 2022 it has been appointed Academic Guest at the ETH Zurich invited by Christian Kerez, running the Master design course: Studio Fondamenta: The Economomy of the project.
FONDAMENTA was born in 2016, it’s run by Francesca Beatrice Gagliardi e Federico Rossi and is based in Milan, Italy.

Milan-based FONDAMENTA was founded by Francesca Gagliardi and Federico Rossi. Strong is the belief in research and experimentation applied to construction where building is the end to which architecture must strive to become itself and technology the tool used to reach this result. FONDAMENTA questions conventions and supports contradictions. Fascination for structure and freedom from dogma represent the premises for the research; Structure traces space, organizes the program and generates the building. Governance of architecture through technology is believed to be the key to the creation of an organism.Technology drives efficiency, precision and control through the entire process. In 2019 the studio completed its first new building, the Winery of Monforte d’Alba, and is currently dealing with different scale projects, starting from a domestic infrastructure masterplan in Val di Noto, Sicily. Surrealism reigns supreme. FONDAMENTA believes in synergies between professional and academic worlds.
Invited to lecture and publish on several international institutions and platforms, FONDAMENTA taught as Academic Guest at ETH - Zürich in 2022-2023 with the Master design course The Economy of the Project.


Collaborators
Nicholas Compagnoni, Luca Redaelli, Giovanni Cesaretti, Francesco Riccardo Toso, Francesco Telesa, Francesco Pusterla, Andrea Rossi.
from 2016
Alberto Smaldone, Chiara Carraro, Diana Spagnulo, Tommaso Tugnoli, Dario Biscaro, Gabriele Pagani, Marina Montresor, Caterina Spadoni, Matteo Broggini, Alessandro Zanella, Margherita Massafra
Francesca Gagliardi was born in 1987 Milan, Italy. She studied Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland gaining her diploma in 2012. She worked for Aires Mateus in Lisbon - Portugal, Ensamble Studio - Anton Garcia Abril in Madrid - Spain, and Christian Kerez, Zurich - Switzerland. In 2016 she co-founded FONDAMENTA.
In 2022 it has been appointed Academic Guest at the ETH Zurich invited by Christian Kerez, running the Master design course: Studio Fondamenta: The Economomy of the project.



Federico Rossi was born in 1987 Como, Italy.
He studied Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland and at KTH Stockholm, Sweden gaining his diploma in 2012. In 2012 co-founded OSA, Associazione Studenti Accademia Mendrisio and in 2013 he co-published the research ATLAS How we Learn to stop Worrying and Love the Tradition.
From 2013 to 2015 worked at Christian Kerez office, Zurich, CH being responsible of international Project. From 2015 to 2019 he has been Assistent for Christian Kerez Chair, at the first year and Master at ETH, Zurich, CH. In 2016 he co-founded FONDAMENTA.
In 2018 together with H.Killer he has been responsable for the Studio PROJECT BERLIN 200.000 Housing Units for Berlin, at ETH, Zurich and based in Berlin, Germany.
In 2019, together with J.Kacani, H. Killer, G. Ledermann he has been responsible of the Chair of Christian Kerez running his personal Studio STUDIO PANORAMA: 14 Views on Contemporary Architecture at ETH, Zurich, CH.
In 2022 it has been appointed Academic Guest at the ETH Zurich invited by Christian Kerez, running the Master design course: Studio Fondamenta: The Economomy of the project.

Federico Rossi , Francesca Beatrice Gagliardi
Nicholas Compagnoni - Alberto Smaldone - Chiara Carraro - Luca Redaelli - Tommaso Tugnoli - Francesco Telesa.
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