Architectural Record 2015-04

MIRROR HOUSES BOLZANO, ITALY PETER PICHLER ARCHITECTURE 71
of electric light emanating from concealed windows.
Guests arriving at the front encounter a building with a
livelier, more open character than the laconic back would
suggest. Pichler brushes off any suggestion of figurative
references, but the structure does call to mind a pair of eyes
looking out at the landscape. The fully glazed front reveals
all-white interiors, in contrast to the black aluminium skin
on the two sides. Projecting decks and canopy roofs make
upper and lower eyelids whose gentle curves are picked up
and amplified in tapering horizontal glazing on the side walls.
Along with the spline curves of the undulating roofline,
the north and south side elevations trace a gradient from
the orthogonal regularity of the back facade to the lighter,
looser front and the landscape beyond, says Pichler. Parametric
software used to generate construction information
saved time and money even on a building of this size,
reports the architect, and allowed the close collaboration
with fabricators necessary to achieve the desired precision.
The level of care evident in the fine tolerances and
complexity of material junctions imbues the apparently
simple interiors with a quiet finesse. Tracks for tight-pleated
drapes and sliding doors to the bedroom, closet, and bathroom
are discreetly buried in the drywall ceiling, while
the frame of the front facade’s glass wall is set flush with
a poured resin floor that extends out onto the deck. The
larger moves express the same sense of precision: cantilevering
the roof beams from solid timber panels in the
side walls means that no columns interrupt the glazed
corners. And in each compact bedroom, Pichler exploited
the 3-foot depth of the roof to carve out a skylight above
FLOTATION DEVICE
Each of the 430-
square-foot units is
essentially one space,
with sliding doors
and drapes that can
close off the bedroom,
bathroom, and
closet. The woodframed
houses are
cantilevered off a
concrete base and
seem to hover 6
inches off the ground.