William Cupido

Grapes in fermentation' - Minimal intervention winemaking encapsulates the terroir of the land through the least interference in the ecological processes of the grapes as possible. Similarly, there is a need for architecture to develop a more dignified connection with site and landscape.

Seeking Rest' - Working with materials from the landscape, land artist Nils Udo recalls his motivation to ‘create something that has never existed, but which has always been present’. Instead of relying on extractive and invasive methodologies of conventional architecture, objects or moments in the environment and landscape already possess qualities of form and structure as a result of their ecological systems.

Diagram & Axonometric. The vineyard and wine-making facilities are intertwined along a primary circulation path on the site’s elevation. Grape growing occurs in the lower elevation, whilst winemaking facilities are located in the higher elevations.

Plan 1:50. Physical and ecological qualities that exist in the elements or moments on the site and its landscape already possess qualities of form and structure. Tree trunks and foliage, combined with the placement of constructed objects express design and structural gestures that form these production stations.

Section 1:50. This project proposes the practice of walking as essential to exploring these qualities further. A cellar door is presented is a series of wooden platforms stacked along the elevation.

Section 1:50. Walking through the existing farm site induces a physical and metaphysical connection to the ecosystem and history of the land. Openings within manufactured landscapes such as the vineyard help to define spatiality in this grape sorting station.