Our project looks at the historic separation between the countryside and the urban city of Tuscany. Specifically, within agriculture in the mezzadria system that embedded a social hierarchy of making the people of the countryside the producers of the cities. We examined the ways of production with the countryside and the importance of the locally grown produce that becomes a major part of the identity. Our proposal uses the production of the countryside and the historic mezzadria system to create a new way of bringing together the urbanite, tourist, and the farmer. We designed a system that allows the urban dweller to come to the borgo and learn the production of olive oil and wine from nature to bottle. They become empathetic toward the land and the work put into the local production of Castiglione D’orcia.
Our design uses the farmhouse shed typology within the area orienting them along the main road. Along the road the homes become an extension of the sidewalk adding shelter. The opposite face is made of tufa brick using the traditional mandolati brick to open the homes to the countryside allowing for views and natural lighting. The homes interconnect using walls to create a circulatory separation between sleeping and eating.
The Production axis comes from connecting the Piazza il Vecchietta in the Borgo to the two grids of Olive Trees and Grape Vines. The slope of the site offered an opportunity to passively move the liquid of crushed grapes or olives across the site from plant to bottle. The storage silos for aging wine spread out into the fields bring occupants into and out of shelter as they filter down the hill.
