Year: 2024
Location: Lunigiana, Tuscany, Italy
Client: Design competition for property owner
Type: Hospitality – Event Space and Offices
Firm: Easton Architect, LLC – James Easton, AIA, NCARB

Cultural Winery – Lunigiana, Italy

Description: Project description – in Set within the rolling terrain of Lunigiana, the project begins with the land rather than the building. The existing agrarian fabric—stone farmhouses, vineyards, and cypress-lined drives—establishes a quiet order that doesn’t need to be replaced, only extended. The proposal sits into that condition as a continuation of it, a place where production, gathering, and landscape come together without hierarchy.

The building is organized as a long bar anchored into the slope, with exterior terraces stepping down toward the vineyard. These terraces are not secondary spaces; they are the project. Dining, events, and everyday use move fluidly between inside and outside, allowing the life of the winery to expand into the terrain. The architecture holds the edge of that movement, giving it structure without closing it off.

At the center, a vertical volume rises through the building—a thickened core that organizes circulation, services, and structure. Around it, the main hall opens completely to the landscape through a continuous glass façade. Heavy timber frames establish rhythm and scale, while the glazing dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior. The result is a space that reads as both shelter and extension of the hillside.

The structural system is intentionally legible. Timber members span across the façade and pass between clerestory openings, allowing light to enter while maintaining continuity of the frame. This detail opens the upper volume to the sky without breaking the discipline of the structure. It is not applied—it is the architecture.

Materially, the building is restrained but deliberate. Stone anchors it to the ground, referencing the existing farm structures. Above, a lighter skin of sustainable composite siding introduces a finer grain, used in varying textures to give depth to otherwise flat surfaces. The layering of materials—stone, composite panels, timber—creates shadow and scale without relying on ornament.

Inside, the experience is shaped by section. Open stairs, glass floor panels, and vertical connections allow movement and visibility between levels, reinforcing the idea that the building is a single continuous volume rather than stacked floors. Light moves through the space throughout the day, reflecting off surfaces and pulling the landscape inward.

The project is ultimately about use. It is designed to hold people—small gatherings, large events, quiet moments overlooking the vineyard—and to do so with clarity. The architecture does not compete with the setting; it frames it, supports it, and makes it more present.

Return to Ideas

Return to Home-Page