Villa W / Architecture MR

W: An architectural ecosystem in motion. W is not just a home: it is a living organism that breathes in rhythm with nature. Every line, void, and texture has been designed to integrate with the existing topography and vegetation, establishing a deep connection with its context. More than imposing on the land, W embraces it, adapting to it and generating an architecture that engages in dialogue with the landscape.

Romanesque, Gothic, Mannerist, Baroque, Neo-Romanesque, Neo-Gothic, and Neo-Manueline are the countless classifications that historians use for the Sé, the building that marked the foundation of Portugal, commissioned by D. Afonso Henriques, after the conquest of the city from the Moors, on the southern slope and halfway up the hill of the Castle.

Swisshouse XL has a strong and distinctive character, reminiscent of traditional rural buildings. Located on the edge of the historical core of Coldrerio, it is set in a context where small structures once supported the agricultural activities of local families. The octagonal plan is not only a formal gesture that subtly detaches - though not entirely disconnects - from the orthogonal grid of recent urban expansion, but also conceptually ties back to 19th-century architectural works in the region, such as the triangular house by architect Croci in Mendrisio.

Quarries can be seen as indelible abandoned scars of human resource extraction. Man-made spaces, perceived as voids, and material gain, have fundamentally shaped our accelerating built environment. All the while, the earth stands still as a silent witness. For decades, these open-pit mines have been viewed as a necessary consequence of consumerism and urban growth, their raw, imposing forms a testament to the large-scale extraction of materials essential for building our cities. However, a global architectural movement is now emerging to engage with these existing forms, transforming these subtractive spaces into sites of innovation, collaboration, and renewed purpose.