144 FLEXFORM | PAPER
L’anima delle cose. In questi due edifici la struttura è messa a nudo e valorizzata. Le travi diventano così,
con la loro trama, un elemento decorativo, che evoca calore ed intimità come nella camera da letto con
il letto Asolo ed il comodino Any Day. | The essence of things. The structure is fully exposed in these two
buildings, and its worth acknowledged. The interlocking of the beams becomes a decorative element that
lends warmth and intimacy, as in the bedroom, with the Asolo bed and Any Day nightstand.
T
his beauty-filled place car-
ries a deeper meaning: it is
a symbol of life and its re-
silience, the expression of
an architect-artist who en-
visions his work as the link
that re-connects man and
nature. In a word: the Case del Prato (Meadow
Houses), designed by Michele De Lucchi as an
expansion of the Hotel Zirmerhof at Redagno di
Sopra, in Alto Adige. The story is worth telling.
In late October 2018, Vaia’s hurricane-force
winds destroyed tens of thousands of hectares
of forest in the mountains of Northeast Italy. An
unprecedented environmental disaster. «I felt
as if I had been personally struck by the fury
of Vaia», stated De Lucchi, «because that same
night, my “Dentro Fuori” work in the Arte Sella
Park was split in half by a falling tree. I still re-
call my horror at the sight of those images. But
then, in speaking with my friends at Arte Sella,
we understood that the disaster offered us an
opportunity to amplify the message of Vaia and
re-work it through art and architecture. This is
how “Radici al vento, testa nella terra” in the
arboretum of the Botanical Gardens in Padua
began, crafted from reclaimed trunks and trees
felled by the storm. Thus, with the same spirit,
I welcomed the idea to build the two Meadow
Houses using the felled wood from the forests
around the Zirmerhof».
De Lucchi is a long-time loyal customer of
the hotel: «We are at 1,500 meters, in the midst
of meadows and forests», he explains. «There’s
a feeling of peace of mind and well-being that
I’ve never found anywhere else. Here, I think
and write with an energy I don’t experience in
other places».
