Located on a steep hillside in the Italian Dolomites, this newly-built hotel was developed as a free-flowing topography–indexed and organized by a series of timber strips–and the serial sequence of apartment units perpendicular to it.

Strata Hotel

TYPE Hotel, Interior
STATUS Commission, Built
LOCATION Sesto, Italy
YEAR 2007
CLIENT Judith Rainer & Christian Schwienbacher


DESIGN TEAM Claude Ballini, Eva Castro, Ulla Hell, Holger Kehne, Libnz Pacheco, Peter Pichler, Angelika Mair
PHOTO CREDIT Cristobal Palma

SKIN ORGANISATION AS STRATA-Since the overall shape was in part determined by the local planning guidelines, the linear distribution of units and the orientation of the sun and views, it is a result of the constant negotiation between these parameters, as well as a topological answer to the picturesque typologies frequently built in the area. From applying the logic of topographical mapping, i.e. the indexing of horizontal sections as continuous lines, the volume is formed as a series of strata: an artificial entity in a dialogue with its natural environment.

In addition, these horizontal sections operate as control lines, generating curved hyper-parabolic geometry. The bands surround the volume at different scales, peeling off from it, flowing into the landscape and blurring the boundaries of the building.  The balconies become liminal zones that negotiate the internal rationale of the apartments, ruled by efficiency and the repetition of parts, with the exterior as an extension of the topography.