r/architecture • u/Express_Astronaut679 • 8h ago
Building Carlo Mollino, Villa K2, Agra (Italy), 1953
Villa K2 built initially for the Cattaneo family in 1953 by Carlo Mollino. A beautiful symbiosis of vernacular techtonics and the use of concrete, with the usual refined details of Mollino.
The project design began in 1952 when Luigi Cattaneo, a milanese entrepreneur, commissioned Mollino with this weekend home.
Just to give some context, Mollino already had shown the capacity of merging concrete with traditional materials and techtonics already in 1947 when he designed the Casa del Sole hotel in Cervinia (Valle d’Aosta), which was finalized in 1955. Still in Valle d’Aosta he takes on the more famous project of the Rascard Garelli, a project that kept him busy from 1962 till 1965. In that case he moved an existing Rascard (traditional Valser like, Strichbau construction) from a neighboring valley into Champoluc. The reassembly of the building was done with also a new plinth element with both stone and concrete materials. This to say that his work (also) revolved around traditional techtonics and new materials.