8 ★ FTWeekend 2 November/3 November 2019House Home
V
illa Vals is designed to be
discreet. Bjarne Masten-
broek, the Dutch architect
and owner, says his main
objective was to preserve
“the purity of the land between the
existing houses” while not obstructing
the view from Peter Zumthor’s cele-
bratedThermeValsbaths.
So he built down. His 2009 home’s
concave façade, made of local quartzite
stone, peeks out froma 10m-deep
aperture in the Swiss mountainside
20km from the Italian border, like
the entrance to an Alpine railway
tunnel. From above its silhouette is
non-existent.
“We were surprised that we were
allowed to build close to Zumthor’s
famous baths,” Mastenbroek says — an
unusual decision that led to an atypical
home. Inside, he was careful to ensurethe subterranean home never feels it.
Every window is south-facing, the bed-
rooms full of natural light. The home
is entered through a converted barn
lower down the mountainside, from
which an underground passageway
leads to the main living areas. Daylight
enters through a slash in the tunnel’s
rawconcreteroof.
Villa Vals is one of a growing number
of modern chalets and resorts catering
to a young, architecturally-conscious
clientele seeking stylish ski homes.
Long derided as lacking sensitivity to
context, unconventional Alpine archi-
tecture is increasingly sought out, while
architects exploit advances in insula-
tion technology to push the boundaries
ofmountainsideliving.
“Uniqueness plays a decisive role in
the decision-making process for this
design and eco-conscious audience,”says Luise Anne Castlunger, owner of
the curvaceous Mi Chalet in Italy,
designed by her father, Karl Heinz
Castlunger.“The rising popularity of
modernist architecture seems to be
reaching the point where brutalism is a
selling point for skiers,” adds Barnabas
Calder,authorofRawConcrete.
Butmountainsidemodernismhasnot
always been appreciated. One of the
most divisive European ski esorts isr
Flaine in the Haute-Savoie region of
France, a cluster of grey blocks
designed by the Hungarianarchitect
and Bauhaus teacherMarcel Breuer
who was selected by the French
developers in 1960. Hotel Le Flaine,
the most dramatic of the lot, juts out
over a clifftop, its cantilevered edge of
cast concrete dominating the slopes
below. A traditional Alpine village of log
chaletsFlaineisnot.
Breuer was given a blank cheque
to design the resort, at a time whenthe rush to exploit France’sor blanc
was at its peak. Yet by the time it
opened years behind schedule in 1969,
modernism wasfalling out of style.
Viewed from above, the scattered mid-
rise slabs have an air of theSoviet
khrushchyovka bout them. The resorta
developed a reputation as one of the
cheapest in the Alps. Itsfour-star hotels
were converted into youth hostels and
budgetaccommodation.
In recent years, however, Flaine has
been revived, driven by a new, architec-
turally-conscious clientele. In 2015,
Maisons et Hôtels Sibuet, the interna-
tional hotel group, took ownership ofLa Muna by Oppenheim Architecture
Laziz Hamani(Left) La
Cascade at Arc
1600 (1968-
1969) by
Charlotte
Perriand and
Guy Rey-Millet
(AAM); (right)
Villa Vals by
Bjarne
Mastenbroek
(2009)
Iwan BaanArchitects exploit advances
in insulation technology to
push the boundaries ofmountainside living
Blueprints on
white slopes
Property Architects for ski properties|
embrace the avant-garde and make
full use of high-tech innovation. ByIdo Vock
Ski Special
NOVEMBER 2 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 10/201930/ - 17:46 User: elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES8 , Part,Page,Edition:RES , 8, 1