Villa Brandoli
Sergio Brancolini
Castelvetro
At the foot of the Apennines around Modena is a farmhouse-type building of ample dimensions, designed by the Bentivogli Studio. The project included a redesign of the main structure and external landscaping using typical components of classical architecture. Plinths, shafts, capitals, stringcourses, sills, jambs, cornices, door and window facings, copings as well as ornamental elements for landscaping such as shafts, fountains, manholes, and benches were carved from gray sandstone reshaped to reflect the details defined in the architectural drawings. The sculptural effect is simple and restrained.
To avoid the risk of a redundancy of classical references, slight shifts among shades of gray softened the visual impact. Stone ashlars were laid on specific assigned positions, which emphasized the homogeneity of color and softness of grain. As a whole, the work is outstanding in its composition and in the coherence of the final outcome.
The rugged ground, and the position of the building offered the opportunity for a series of connections and rises to the different levels, with ground containments near passageways. The main monumental staircase, ancillary flights and landings were designed with a unifying line. These spaces were defined with great accuracy by the regular cutting of the paving tile slabs, with dimensions always moderated by the scale of the path and with ever-recurring dimensional submultiples in the specially-designed pieces, for example, the manholes. In some cases, the uppermost surfaces were textured with a minimal sculptural relief, to avoid the typical, two-dimensionality of the tile slab.
To avoid the risk of a redundancy of classical references, slight shifts among shades of gray softened the visual impact. Stone ashlars were laid on specific assigned positions, which emphasized the homogeneity of color and softness of grain. As a whole, the work is outstanding in its composition and in the coherence of the final outcome.
The rugged ground, and the position of the building offered the opportunity for a series of connections and rises to the different levels, with ground containments near passageways. The main monumental staircase, ancillary flights and landings were designed with a unifying line. These spaces were defined with great accuracy by the regular cutting of the paving tile slabs, with dimensions always moderated by the scale of the path and with ever-recurring dimensional submultiples in the specially-designed pieces, for example, the manholes. In some cases, the uppermost surfaces were textured with a minimal sculptural relief, to avoid the typical, two-dimensionality of the tile slab.
