International students from YACademy's 'Architecture for Landscape' workshop develop bivouac shelters in the mountains of Italy's Aosta Valley

It was 2019 when, within the workshop of YACademy’s course in  Architecture for Landscape, a group of international students developed the project of a bivouac for the Brédy family.

Today, thanks to that experience, in the mountains of Aosta Valley, a magnificent new intervention of contemporary architecture arises, signed by Chiara Tessarollo, Skye Sturm and Facundo Arboit, alumni of the prestigious international academy.

The story has an articulated and complex development and deserves to be told in detail.

Each year, YACademy courses offer their students the opportunity to work on real projects for clients of absolute prestige. In 2019, through the collaboration between YACademy and Cantieri d’Alta Quota - an Italian association oriented towards assembled architecture field study and research - the workshop topic concerned the design of a small bivouac in the Vertosan valley.

The design of this architecture was the expression of the Brédy family of paying homage to the memory of their family member Claudio, fond of mountaineering and hiking, who tragically lost his life in those mountains in August 2017.

Under the tutorship of Roberto Dini, an expert in mountain architecture and tutor for that year's Architecture for Landscape workshop at YACademy, the two teams of students submitted 8 different bivouac proposals.

The theme was particularly exciting, as it was a mixture of a series of interesting design elements: on the one hand the relationship with nature, enchanting yet conveying a series of technical complexities from which mountain projects are never exempt; on the other hand, the creation of an architecture that evokes, despite the compact spaces, the passions, the life, and the personality of Claudio, to whom it was dedicated.

At the end of the course, a competition among the alumni, also carried out in collaboration with the Aosta Valley Architects order, led to the assignment of the project design to 3 students, organized in a collective. 

Step by step, the collective, thanks to the support of Cantieri d’Alta Quota and Chenevier S.p.a., came to the realization of the project, culminating with the on-site installation between September 27th and October 9th, 2021.

The result is an architectural product with simple and elegant shapes: an abstract volume, suspended on its slender pillars, and open towards the valley thanks to a large window. Like a telescope, the bivouac looks towards the south, embracing and welcoming a mountain landscape of rare magnificence. The interior, with exposed wood finishes, is warm and welcoming: it can accommodate up to 6 people, whose activities are optimized by a series of retractable elements. A particular space is also given to a small library, which would like to represent a point where the bivouac guests can share reading and experiences, recalling Claudio’s passion for reading. 

“Projects born within YACademy courses that are realized outside the academy are more and more frequent - comments Alessandro Cecchini,  director of YACademy - and this is something that fills us with passion and pride. YACademy's goal is to create a privileged environment, which favors the affirmation of young people, giving them concrete job opportunities and the chance to better express their thoughts and ideas, directly in contact with the greatest designers of the world: stories such as the Brédy bivouac, in a certain way, tell us that we are going towards the right direction".

YACademy's new educational offer has just been published, with many opportunities awaiting young designers.

YACADEMY

YAC is an organizer of design and architectural projects for young architects and designers, recent graduates and students. Over the years, YAC has broadened its experience of work and collaboration with the main architectural firms of contemporary architecture, dealing with diverse and numerous topics of architectural design. Nowadays, YAC’s expertise can serve young designers better, providing them with the creation of high-level educational programs aimed at polishing the skills of the students and offering them a valuable connection to the labor market. Thanks to the close relationship with internationally renowned professional and academic actors, YACademy is the perfect frame within which to complete or specialize one’s skills, and create a significant link with the most internationally-renowned architectural firms. The location of the courses, also available from remote connection since 2020, is the prestigious headquarters of YACademy: a medieval building located in the heart of Bologna’s historical city center, close to the Two Towers and next to Piazza Santo Stefano; namely, one of the most picturesque areas of the city. 

PARTNERS

In collaboration with: FITT - MANNI GROUP - TERREAL - URBAN UP l UNIPOL - CESARE ROVERSI

For more information visit: www.yacademy.it Contact: [email protected]