VILLA IN THE VALLEY

The design of an artist's villa should explore the relationship between landscape and architecture; the symbiosis between what has grown naturally and what has been built by humans. The new house is to be built for an art foundation for year-round use as a workshop and meeting place. Just like its Italian model the Villa Massimo near Rome the aim is to create an inspiring temporary 'place of work' for up to five scholarship holders from the fields of literature composition visual arts landscape architecture and photography. The presence of a new cultural institution adjacent to Erwin Wortelkamp's artwork must neither overshadow the surrounding greenery nor distract from the essentials. Engaging with the location was just as important for my personal development of a building concept as researching Roman scholarship villas experimenting with different design approaches and developing a personal architectural language.