IFLA Europe Exhibition 'Re-considering Nature' project

IFLA Europe Exhibition 'Re-considering Nature' project

“Country House Villadorata” - Italy

We present project submitted by AIAPP Italy entitled “Country House Villadorata”

South-eastern Sicily is characterized by a magnificent countryside around pearls of Baroque. The rural landscape is formed by small fields, punctuated by dry stone walls. The cultivation of almonds has shaped over time a unique landscape, which protects these environments and their identity, with its early flowering, when nature is still sleeping. Like other rural landscapes, this one is also threatened by abandonment and urbanization, with the loss of immeasurable beauty, knowledge and traditions linked to a material culture. Integrated into this landscape, the farm has been taken over to host a charming Country House.

The project has restored the rural buildings with philological attention for new functions. But if the intention was precisely to create a high-level widespread hotel, equal importance was given to the conservation and enhancement of the rural landscape, the true attraction of this territory, together with the coasts and the historical-architectural heritage. In fact,the project has preserved the traditional crops (almond, olive, citrus, vineyard) and around the buildings, the swimming pool and along the connecting paths the project intended to propose a discreet, natural-form landscape, using native and ornamental species, with the intention of integrating it with the existing one.

Authors: Francesca Neonato, PN Studio

Photo Credit: Mattia Aquila Photography