OBSERVATORY HOUSES

Professional : Coughlin Architecture

Competition Entry

Roccascalegna, Italy

Summer 2017

- Paul Coughlin and I worked together to come up with a design concept, I produced the graphics individually.Diagrammatically, a constellation is a series of points connected by lines; organization can be found within the man-made and natural realms of Roccascalegna. Pointlike elements are positioned within the landscape, linear elements serve as the meeting grounds between points; the point elements anchor each piece of Roccascalegna. The constellation of our proposal: The sky lounge is set reflects the night sky. The units pay homage to the village of Roccascalegna through its collective massing. The thickness of the housing structure’s envelope borrows from the masonry walls of the castle. Tiny openings in the structure’s facade, reminiscent of arrow slits, are scattered across the geometry like stars in the night sky. The thick walls in plan, previously used for defensive purposes and structural stability, create a contrast between the intimate interior domestic space and the vast exterior around the

Using the idea of celestial constellation, we mirrored the way stars are points in space with linear connections to create a whole.

The Skylounge contains program that will be necessary to every user of the resort. These programmatic pieces are placed within the castle’s existing point-like spaces.

The cylindrical observation spaces serve as the points within the housing, as they are the space that will most directly and fully allow the users to stargaze.