The building is located on a crest overlooking Lake Orta, in the Piedmontese Prealps; the project consists the construction of a 120 square metre unit: a summer house completely immersed in nature. The only part of the underground building you can see from the road is the stair landing. Towards the valley, a continuous wooden framed window provides onlookers with a full view of the lake. The perimeter and entrance walls are faced with dry stone, according to a local tradition.

The project for this villa with béton brut walls is fascinating but also simple. For some strange alchemy between opposites, any object with a minimum degree of finishing emits great expressive strength when compared to walls that are so rough that they show the signs of rust left by the moulds and the imperfections of the béton. This is all the more true if the comparison is between béton brut and noble materials such as wood. The entire house is an endless juxtaposition between béton and pieces of furiture made with types of wood different in shape but of a similar colour. Some of the fitted-in furniture has pure clear-cut geometric shapes as if it were an extension of béton brut walls. The rest of the furniture, bought from a catalogue, has soft shapes and light coloured upholstery. The result is a home that is, at the same time, rigorous and welcoming.

The aim of the design of this garden is to tackle themes that are common also to architectural interventions: keep the view towards the lake, close the borders with the road, and model the land in an architectural sense. Colour theme focusing on some elements (bulbous plants and vegetable garden), realisation of a low maintenance contry garden, valuable elements concentrateed only in some spots (entrance, swimming pool, terrace); the possibility to plan the intervention in tima is also envisaged according to ho the house is used by its inhabitants.