studio colleoni previtali wraps its 'creek house' in a skin of austere concrete

among an historic fabric of the alpine province of bergamo, studio colleoni previtali architetti sites its ‘creek house’ captured by simone bossi the project lot, surrounded by an existing building fabric, faces a sweeping view toward a picturesque landscape descending towards a stream bed. the concrete-wrapped dwelling was born of the design team’s respect for its context, integrating a narrow water feature that echoes the nearby creek. the studio comments: ‘the volume develops indeed by ‘concretion,’ starting from the eastward vertex. from here, it progressively grows tending towards the extrication of its form from the surrounding construction constraints.’

images © simone bossi | @simonebossiphotographer

studio colleoni previtali architetti’s creek house establishes a hermetic link with what is built. the dwelling is characterized by two volume which lean into each other, nearly touching, to generate an interstitial exterior courtyard, as the team describes as a ‘mediation space between the parts.’ the tensions accumulated in the building’s progressive liberation process flow into the wide, glazed front. there, a portico with variable depth mediates the relationship between the main living spaces and the open space in front.

with a sprawling plot, the design team at colleoni previtali architetti organizes the main programs along the ground level. within the main volume, spaces are longitudinally stratified. a rounded, curved ‘wall membrane’ expands to enclose the service rooms. in an intermediate position, the distribution space illuminated by skylights and finally the main rooms of the house, directly oriented towards the outdoor and marked by a ‘glass membrane.’ this membrane is shaped along the organisational logics deriving from the relationship between the indoor and the portico.

project info:

project title: creek house

architecture: studio colleoni previtali architetti | @colleoni_previtali_architetti

location: bergamo, italy

lead architects: andrea colleoni, andrea previtali

completion: 2020

photography: © simone bossi | @simonebossiphotographer