YAC announces the winners of the Castle Resort Competition

YAC-Young Architects Competitions and Marlegno s.r.l. announce the winners of Castle Resort, the international architectural competition launched last November in cooperation with the Italian Government. The aim of this contest of ideas was to convert a medieval fortress into an exclusive tourist facility combining architecture and nature in order to enhance the historic and landscape value of this dreamful location in Roccamandolfi, in Southern Italy. 

The jury was made up of internationally-renowned professionals in the architectural field like Eduardo Souto de Moura, Todd Saunders, Alain Laurens (co-founder of La Cabane Perchée studio), Giorgio Palmucci (President of the Italian Confindustria Association Hotels), Lamberto Mancini (Director-General of the Italian Touring Club), Edoardo Maggini (Italian Government), Giacomo Lombardi (Municipality of Roccamandolfi), Elena Mucelli (University of Bologna), Remo Capitanio (Capitanio Architects).

Winning teams were awarded  €20,000 in total; the first prize receiving  €10,000,   €4,000 to the second,  €2,000 to the third and  €1,000 awarded to each of the four Gold Mentions. Following, there were 10 Honorable Mentions and 32 Finalist Mentions.

Further information about the competition on YAC's website: 
www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com

"The purpose of the project was to propose the primitive shape of the house: open towards the landscape and concealed in the background. So, inspired by the shape of the tree, the cabin is supported by a structure that, lifting it from the ground, allows to integrate it and conceal it in the foliage of the tree. Another purpose was to operate in a non-invasive way to the pre-existings of the castle and at the same time, we wanted to make it available to customers of the hotel and visitors. Especially for this, it is expected an additional access through a ramp (provided with a panoramic view) which, ideally, recalls the design of the castle, and a pavement that makes the visit more comfortable besides a panoramic overhanging view."

"Dealing with the inaccessible nature of this site, the project aspires to design a pathway made of elements molded into this stunning landscape, so that the users can reach the castle and the hotel cabins through a path into the nature. The architectural intervention was conceived as a thin thread that guides users from one amazing view to another, ending in a scenic route inside the castle's ruins. The path establishes a connection with the castle, moreover it created the condition to enjoy great panoramic views, it runs through a viewing platform designed with a different ground and increases the number of viewing pints towards the castle, the town, the natural scenarios all around."

"This project tried to create a hidden time that resists the time of its use. A powerful basement is one of the main cores of the project strategy: now, they are platforms covered by architecture—a place where guests can rest and enjoy the mountain; but time after time, like the castle a lot of years ago, they will become abandoned and then ruins. Then these ruins will become the place to rest of shepherds and for all those people that want to climb the ancient Rocca. Formerly, they will become a part of the ruin's landscape together with the Castle."

"This project is to create a structure with the purpose of attracting tourists from around the globe. It has to be in accordance with the surrounding architecture and landscape. We wanted to beautify this gorgeous historical site thanks to a contemporary architecture. We wanted to create a path along which visitors can stroll and have a view over the different aspects of the site of the incredible architecture of the Roccamandolfi castle. In order to reveal these historical remains, we have created a light contemporary structure which disappears in the landscape."

"Thought as a fragment of the archaic landscape, the project praising transhumance and the sacredness of this tradition that historically guides shepherds and their flocks towards the sun. We aim to celebrate the honest life, almost primate in the contest of an untouched natural world. The architecture dissolves into its context forming a singular, homogenous landscape. The meandering corridor reminiscent of the ancient tratturi tracks used to navigate the resort. A ramp undulates and traverses the mountain revealing glimpses of the valley and its horizon from multiple perspectives, a set of terraces offer spaces of pause, reflection and subtle meditation."

"The projects aims to show a deep and strong relation between architecture and nature. New architectures are shaped as bulbs that bring new life inside them and spread it throughout the area surrounding the castle, ideally linked to the ancient architecture of the fortress."

"The project stands in respectful dialogue with the beautiful scenery of Roccamandolfi Castle by establishing a conversation with its simple and pure forms that are set against the forest background. The various elements of the Castle Resort program, which are geometrically linked, vary in scale and are in harmony with the Roccamandolfi Castle and the natural surroundings. In a tension between elements in plain sight and hidden ones, between the simplicity of the form and complexity of the program, between the added artifice and the landscape that together are essential elements that define and give new identity to the site."