IT | EN

The design of the Petra winery, developed by Mario Botta based on an idea by Vittorio Moretti, has the strong plastic image of a sectioned stone cylinder, with an inclined plane parallel to the hill on which it lies and two porticoed building bodies on either side. The cylinder, which reaches 25 m in height and has a diameter of 42 m, accommodates the winery’s primary activities: on the ground floor are the tanks for vinification, while the upper levels house the reception areas for harvested grapes, the crushing area and activities related to production and controls. Also on the first floor, in the depth beyond the central core and the space reserved for oak barrels for aging wine, a long tunnel penetrates the mountain, as a symbolic umbilical cord connecting to the “mother earth,” and stops in front of a rock wall, in the heart of the hill.

Petra represents a synthesis of excellence between the architectural idea of a great designer and the wealth of knowledge of Moretti Modular Contractor, which knows how to use prefabrication technology in reinforced concrete and glulam at 360 degrees. For the plate, the basic module of the 6×6 cellar system was used, supplemented with a series of specially designed and manufactured elements for the cylindrical body. The structure of the latter consists of round pillars supporting the large glulam beams of the external staircase and the reinforced concrete partitions of the circular crown, where the roof garden is located. Secondary glulam beams, placed between the main beams and the first ring of the crown, slope downward according to the cadence dictated by the staircase, forming windows that illuminate the interior of the cylinder. In the large barriques, ancient architectural styles are evoked by twisted columns and pillars and cross vaults. Interesting is the refined interlocking play of structural elements, which define the space of the corridors between rooms.

Project: arch. Mario Botta

“Petra's design is intended to be a reinterpretation of the old Tuscan country dwellings in which the design of the crops, in this case the vineyards, was an integral part of the architectural design.”

Mario Botta, Architect

NON CANCELLARE

Architect

Mario Botta

Architect

Mario Botta is a Swiss architect and sculptor whose style, much influenced by Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, and Louis Kahn, is characterized by a remarkable pragmatism and the creation of a strong, geometric architectural space, often clad in terracotta bricks built with careful design of the architectural detail. Characteristic of his architecture are the use of brick and stone and buildings consisting of pure volumes, cut and pierced by large splits.

Advantages

General Contractor: from the development of the design idea to the complete construction of the work, integrating glulam and concrete into an architectural work.

The architectural intuition was translated with total use of prefabrication technology through a process of mutual refinement of the design.