Glass houses

The Mirror Houses are a pair of holiday homes designed by Italian based architecture and design firm Peter Pichler architects, set in the surroundings of the South Tyrolean Dolomites amidst a beautiful scenery of apple trees  just outside the city of Bolzano Italy.

The client, who lives in a restructured farmhouse of the 60s on the site, asked to design a structure for renting out as luxury holiday units. Guests have their small autonomous apartment and can fully enjoy the experience of living in the middle of nature. A maximum degree of privacy for both the client and the residing guest was taken into consideration.

Each unit, with their private garden and access, contains a kitchen / living room as well as a bath- and bedroom with big skylights that open to allow natural light and ventilation. Both units are floating on a base above the ground evoking lightness whist offering better views from their cantilevering terraces to the impressive surrounding landscape. The volume opens towards east with a big glass facade that fades with curvilinear lines into the black aluminium shell. Mirrored glass on the west facade borders the garden of the client with the units and catches the surrounding panorama while making the units almost invisible (rather unfortunate for the local birds I’m guessing). From certain views of the clients garden the old existing farmhouse is mirrored in the new contemporary architecture and is literally blending into it rather then competing against.

all images © OSKAR DA RIZ