TerraViva has officially released the complete list of awarded projects of the design contest entitled “Cultural Winery”.

This competition was aimed at imagining a new concept of tasting, a space in which art, culture and tradition were able to merge into a single project. The main goal was to complement the existing facilities of Podere Fedespina with a new building capable of offering a contemporary experience in a context steeped in history. A one-of-a-kind winery where leisure, events and nature could coexist in harmony. Participants were therefore encouraged to experiment with a wide variety of shapes, layouts and textures, and were given total freedom to intervene creatively both at a landscape and topographic level.

The best proposals managed to sensibly integrate the volumes of the new Winery with the existing irregular terrain, creating a subtle and harmonious dialogue between the vineyards, the original buildings and the characteristic Tuscan landscape. Through very different strategies, each participant managed to develop projects of the highest architectural level: some are mainly characterised by a layout of organic lines that follow the undulating topography almost like a land art operation, while others chose simple and clear geometries that turn them into contemporary landmarks.

The competition was open to students, architects, designers, urbanists, engineers, makers, artists and anyone interested in the fields of architecture and design.

The winners were selected by an international jury panel composed by:

Matteo Farina | Podere Fedespina (Mulazzo, Italy)
Olga Aleksakova | Cloud Architects (Tallin, Estonia)
Renyi Zhang | Perkins&Will (Boston, United States)
Elisa Battilani | Cream Estudio (Barcelona, Spain)
Valentina Del Motto | Olos Atelier (Varese, Italy)
Giulio Galasso | ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)
Tianhui Zhang | Pelli Clarke & Partners (New Haven, United States)
Biagio Amodio | Zaha Hadid Architects (London, United Kingdom)

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WINNERS

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1ST PLACE

“The Wine Path”
Tigran Danielian, Karen Bilian, Anastasia Morozova, Alice Matskewicz
Armenia – Russia

The wine path

Lunigiana is an Italian miracle where nature unfolds in all its charming beauty, like a painting by a great master, enthralled by its splendor. Here the majestic hills are covered with vineyards and olive groves, as if a carpet leading to a world of wine and historical treasures.

Here Podere Fedespina is the jewel of this stunning garden, where every slope and every building hold the spirit of a centuries-old tradition and a passionate love of wine. Here lives the soul of the majestic art of winemaking, captivating and inspiring with its depth and history.

Our mission is to delicately and sensually approach the issue and create a space that epitomizes the culture and tradition of wine, while maintaining a harmony with the surrounding nature.

The genuine architectural answer to the challenge comes through the perception of the vineyards as a natural hillside park-garden. The goal of our project is to transform the vineyards into a unique landscape garden

Therefore, we do not divide the territory into vineyards and building, but immerse the building itself in this garden of vineyards, thus creating the ultimate synergy of park-garden and building-pavilion, diving into the culture of wine on 360 degrees and finding inspiration in this world of scenic beauty

By immersing the building in the very center of nature, we create not just an architectural object, but an entire space that combines functionality and aesthetics. The single-storey glass pavilion, nestled in the heart of the hill, linking two points to the road, becomes not only an essential part of the garden, but also gently emphasizes the historical architecture of the existing building.

The pavilion provides a new linear route within the vineyards with a series of essential internal functions such as: reception areas, an area for the sale of local products and wines, a small restaurant with tasting room and kitchen-bar with space for storage and display of bottles and barrels, a flexible multifunctional area for cultural events, an office and conference room for the administrators.

This approach will not only enrich the tourist appeal of the place, but will also open new horizons for true wine connoisseurs. The interactivity of this space, maximized by the continuous interaction with the surrounding landscape, will be a vivid example of the union of the contemporary and the historical, giving a distinctive flavor to this astonishing place.

Podere Fedespina will become not just a space for relaxation and wine tasting, but a veritable center for the fulfillment of dreams of inspiration, beauty and harmony. Here each guest will be able to feel himself a part of the great history of winemaking, immerse himself in the world of scents and flavors, enjoy the exceptional atmosphere of Lunigiana. In this place the art of architecture, culture and nature merge to form a true masterpiece that will leave unforgettable impressions for years to come.

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About the First Prize – Elisa Battilani – Cream Estudio
“The project is designed with high delicacy and sensitivity regarding the context. It seeks to avoid designing superfluous volumes that impact the landscape; instead, it creates a linear building in the form of a path, a suggestive structure integrated into the landscape like a ‘slit’. This approach is perfectly in tune with the genuine architectural response to the challenge. The linear building allows the program to integrate landscape and architecture in a very creative and original way. The goal is to transform the vineyards into a unique landscape garden solution. Moreover, the proposal becomes a structure that captures the surrounding environment, the vineyards, and the panoramic views, functioning as an observatory.”

About the First Prize – Renyi Zhang – Perkins&Will
“The design for Podere Fedespina introduces a curved glass pavilion that seamlessly integrates into the Lunigiana landscape, embodying the region’s winemaking heritage while emphasizing the power of its curvilinear form. This architectural choice not only enhances functionality and aesthetics but also strengthens the connection between the historical and the contemporary, enriching the visitor’s immersive experience.”

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2ND PLACE

“Lunigiana Cultural Winery, A tribute to the Tuscan Landscape”
Erick Alejandro Tinoco Ávila, Gabriel Alejandro Ruiz Suárez
Mexico

Lunigiana Cultural Winery, A tribute to the Tuscan landscape

In 1963, Emilio Sereni defined the agricultural landscape as “the form that men, throughout and for the purposes of their agricultural production activities, consciously and systematically imprint on the natural landscape” (Sereni 2008, 29). These landscapes, such as the vineyards of Tuscany, are symbols of a historical balance between culture and the countryside. To intervene in this landscape, it is crucial to understand its history and significance.

The historical rural Italian landscape shows two main types of profiles: agricultural production organized in vast fields and landscapes of fortresses, towers, and castles. These schemes provide a guide for intervening in rugged or agricultural lands. Additionally, they reveal the symbolic importance of the landscape in Tuscan vernacular architecture.

We aimed to understand how use, tradition, and culture contributed to the construction of this vernacular form and found significant details of the region’s architecture, such as the adaptation of complex carpentry structures to regulate light and wind, as well as the maximization of the use of balconies, gardens, and patios. These historically charged elements of symbolism and significance determined the architecture and atmosphere of the region.

Once this was understood, the task was to intervene in a complex that already played the role of preexistence, so it was very important to understand its location within the complex, its construction method, and how the new volumes could integrate with them.

The location was already defined, so we needed to resolve how to generate the path that connects both ends while taking care of the direction of the views from the preexisting complex and from the new volume. It was through plazas creating focal points, changes in level, and gardens that we integrated the preexisting elements such as the pergola, giving it a defined use as a dining area for the restaurant.

To encompass the entire urban intervention, we separately generated the kitchen volume and the local products and wine sales volume (separate from the winery). With this, we aimed to contribute to this historical recognition of a city made for walking, which has plazas, stairs, alleys, gardens, and more urban elements. Additionally, their separation helped create different moments to overcome the topography and descend to the end of the terrain through platforms.

In the winery volume, we located a reception area connected to the tasting area, where we found the tasting room and, going down a staircase to the west of the building, the barrel room. On the other side, at the center of the building, we found a multipurpose lobby through which we could access the versatile hall, a large room with characteristics for larger-scale events, such as exhibitions, film screenings, conferences, fairs, etc. Finally, at the eastern end, we found the services, such as restrooms and offices.

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About the Second Prize – Matteo Farina – Podere Fedespina
“Innovative concept and excellent design in the historical and morphological layering of the buildings. The project succeeds in making the existing vernacular buildings coexist with newly constructed volumes to the appropriate extent, respecting the existing landscape paths in both wine and wine-tasting processes.”

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3RD PLACE

“The Forum”
Balint Iszak, Csenge Gyorgyi
New Zealand

‘The Forum’

Winemaking has been an integral part of human culture. Preserving these traditions is crucial to maintaining the legacy of Tuscany’s identity while also welcoming new opportunities and advancements.

Our proposal, while respecting the beauty of its unique natural environment, also emphasises the dialogue between heritage, tradition and new functions throughout the design: two grids, heavy-light, grounded-elevated, enclosed-open, tonal-colourful.
Given the new addition’s location and role in welcoming visitors, it was important for us to reimagine the arrival experience to the site. Our proposal creates a central space we call the ‘Forum’, positioned between the existing and the new buildings. This space is envisioned to be the heart of the site, where visitors arrive, meet, dine, enjoy concerts and exhibitions, practice yoga, or participate in a local market. ‘The Forum’ serves as a dynamic social hub, reflecting the communal spirit of winemaking.

Another key concept of our design is to enhance the visitor’s sensory experience by connecting the original and the new vineyard together through the Forum. By linking them together, the intention is for the vineyard/winemaking experience to permeate the entire site, creating a much closer relationship with the visitor. The vision for the existing outdoor area is to retain only the platform and extend the vineyard through it to create an outdoor dining experience among the vineyard vines.

The proposal is organised using two grids: one aligned with the existing structures, honouring the historical context, while the other is parallel to the vineyard rows, establishing a harmonious connection with the vines.

The new proposal comprises two elements: The first consists of partially submerged, heavy, enclosed stone masses that resonate with the language and grid of the existing buildings. These structures house the more traditional functions such as the tasting room, wine store, office, shop, restaurant and a centrally located outdoor platform that can host concerts and various other events.
The second element is an elevated open pavilion aligned with the vineyard grid and situated on the top of one of the stone masses, offering panoramic views of the vineyard and wider surroundings. It houses a new multifunctional and expandable space with operable windows that can be easily dissolved to connect the indoor space with the outdoor areas.

The pavilion is envisioned as a steel structure, polished and lacquered red, symbolising its deep connection to the essence of the wine. The reflectiveness of the metal ceiling brings in the colours of the of the surrounding green area, which makes the red colour of the ceiling change with time. The roof has a generous overhang to provide shading on the western and southern sides.

Descending to the lower level is through a sculptural staircase, which is the only element carrying the language of the new function downstairs. As it hovers above the tasting room and the wine barrels underneath, the visitor has an immersive experience descending the stairs.

The proposal aims not only to preserve the legacy of Tuscan winemaking, but also sets the stage for its vibrant future.

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About the Third Prize – Olga Aleksakova – Cloud Architects
“The way the buildings sit in the landscape, the way the two grids negotiate, the way it merges with the surroundings, the tastefulness in the material choices and detailing – all is meticulous and aplaudable. The team managed to reach wonderful effect in a few contained gestures.”

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GOLDEN MENTIONS

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Virginia Maria Yedro, Mathias Tobal, Christian Moroni, Justina Martinez Zuviria Claret, Thomas Kūhnel, Maria Jesus Vazquez
Italy – Portugal – Argentina