In Switzerland, DF__DC Architects’ Minimal Pyramid House Stands Out From Its Mountainous Surroundings
- Name
- DF__DC
- Project
- Pyramid House
- Images
- Simone Bossi
- Words
- Steph Wade
Tegna is a small hilly town in the alpine region of Ticino, located near the border of Italy in southern Switzerland. It is here that Swiss architecture firm DF__DC has designed a geometric, concrete house that appears as an “extraneous object of scale, difficult to gauge and intriguing in character.”
The London and Lugano-based firm is known for its striking, angular residential projects around Europe that use the backdrop or context of each, to inform each project’s construction. With ‘Pyramid House’, the firm has redefined the simple geometric form of a pyramid—an architectural form that is often seen as having notions of antiquity—transforming it into something contemporary and modernist. Standing at the end of a dead-end road between detached houses and vineyards, the pitched concrete volume rises out of its site, “reading as a monumental, introverted form,” the firm says.
The internal layout of the home is characterized by an L-shaped space with the lounge, kitchen, and dining areas completely open to a garden facing southwest. “What appears to be a very closed typology from the street, proves to be surprisingly porous inside,” the firm continues. An ultra pared-back interior features white walls, floors, and ceilings, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows flooding in natural light. The home provides a contemporary space for its inhabitants that gives a certain level of visual security, while at the same time, provides a clean, open space from the inside.
All images © Simone Bossi
