Location: Vertosan, Aosta
Collab: BCW Collective 

Facundo Arboit
Chiara Tessarollo
Sky Sturm
BIVACCO BREDY

Our partner Facundo Arboit together with architects Chiara Tessarollo and Skye Sturm won first place for their proposal in a competition organized by YACademy and Cantieri d’Alta Quota on behalf of the Brédy family.

The competition sought developed 1:20 designs of a bivouac to celebrate the memory of Claudio Brédy, a well-known politician and Alpinist from Valle d’Aosta who tragically lost his life in a climbing accident. The proposed location for the bivouac is near Laghi di Dzioule, two small alpine lakes at 2500m elevation in the secluded Vertosan Valley.

Inspiration from Claudio’s life and the mountains he was so passionate about, create a memorial architecture which captures the spirit of the man and the place through symbolism. The minimalist concept embraces the essentiality of the mountain context, while the cantilevered form, pushing into the void, evokes the absence Claudio left behind.

The entire structure acts as a telescope, opening towards grand views to the south. A large opening frames Gran Paradiso, one of the 4000m peaks the alpinist ascended during his life. Furthermore, this orientation serves as an environmental design strategy, maximizing solar gain to warm the interior even in the cold months while durable zinc cladding over insulated panel walls retains the heat.

This, and other contextual and environmental strategies have been successfully translated in order to make the project as effective as possible within the required budget.