Casa Bula

The antithesis to a house on a slope: one in a cavern, or better yet: a house in a fortified cavern, which is more of a reinforcement of the steep vineyard, a type of primal architecture or architectural archaeology. Casa Bula by Bearth & Deplazes. The entrance: an opening in the vineyard’s quarry-stone retaining wall, a stairway to the open terrace—pure outdoor space with a view into the valley of Mergoscia. Only in the background, at the back of the terrace, the interior of a house set into the mountain; more cavity than building, as the building volume has no façades. Pure interior spaces, cast monolithically from paneled, gray exposed concrete.

Client: Private
Architecture Office: Bearth & Deplazes Architekten Chur/Zürich
Valentin Bearth- Andrea Deplazes-Daniel Ladner
Project Manager: Federico Testa
Site Manager: Arch. Ennio Maggetti, Minusio
Civil Engineer: Bonalumi Monotti Ingegneri
Electrical Engineer: Tecnoprogetti, Camorino Werner Biral
Photographer: Tonatiuh Ambrosetti