The Swiss architect Davide Macullo and the French sculptor and artist Daniel Buren are responsible for the Swiss House Rossa, an attractive and unusual building located in Rossa, a small town of less than 200 inhabitants in the Swiss Alps.
It is an imposing sculptural volume of wood and concrete of 1,000 m3 and three floors (one low level), which blurs the boundaries between art and architecture.
Designed for Macullo himself, the house had to contemplate the needs and requirements of his profession, while satisfying his artistic concerns.
The house on the edge of the village is arranged along a row of residential houses that are grouped around a church in the center of the village.
The block made up of four modules covered with longitudinal wooden strips, recreate a Helvetic cross with rounded edges that can only be seen from an aerial view.
The Swiss House XXXII Rossa by Davide Macullo Architects house has a cross-shaped floor plan, the edges of which are slightly rounded – a house archetype that children could design. The basement is made of reinforced concrete and the upper part is made entirely of wood.
The interior, made of natural wood, contrasts with the strident exterior palette, features that enhance its sculptural value and that have made this project a fundamental piece of the architectural landscape of the town.
Despite the seemingly simple outer shape, a complex spatial structure unfolds inside the building: the simplicity and complexity that are associated with the surrounding nature.
“It is a magical place, when you get there you forget everything. The doors of the past are closed and those of dreams are opened. Swiss House Rossa is an opera of art and architecture, a living sculpture”
– Davide Macullo
Photographs: Davide Macullo Architects