A Space for a Painting

The starting point was not an old Engadine house but rather a poorly executed, incomplete renovation: the old barn had been divided into three apartments with no consideration for structure, space, construction, or solar orientation. The previous renovation was completely demolished in the central section (the former wooden barn) down to the reinforced concrete slab above the garage. The demolition allowed a true spatial restoration of the barn. A wooden structure, stretched between two white end blocks, forms a single, large space: a “space for a painting.” The space is defined by repeated laminated beams that shape both the façades and the roof. The construction, which allows light to filter in, features a single panoramic window on the south façade, reinterpreting the barn’s traditional ventilated wooden structure. The façades consist of self-supporting Douglas fir beams. The joints between the beams create slits that can open to ventilate the interior. Over time, sunlight and weathering differentiate the exterior from the interior façade. The large square window on the south façade mediates between the private interior and the public exterior. The village core, with its bell tower and surrounding landscape, becomes a framed painting inside, reflected externally through the window itself.