Tuscan Fienile 'Hay barn" | 2018-2023

Location: Lucca, Italy
Architects: Bentel & Bentel, Architects/Planners, LLP.
Lead Architect: Carol Bentel
Landscape Architects: Martino De Prato
General Contractor: Andrea Nannini
Client: Paul and Carol Bentel
Photographer: Courtesy of the Architects

The Tuscan fienile (hay barn) was abandoned for many years. Over time the roof caved in. Olive tree netting and pitch forks for moving hay bales rusted inside. Yet, the building was much beloved for its air brick-patterned walls, which let air in to dry the hay, but kept the rain out.

The ruin was purchased in 2014, construction began in 2018 to be completed in 2023. Rules changed during the duration of the project to encourage people to save ruinous buildings by allowing additions to be made to them. The exact volumetric size of the historic building could be added.

The new addition, in dialogue with the existing, was the same size/geometry except the new cube was shifted to the mid-point to give an independent integrity to the fienile, and the same integrity, but less immediately visible, to the new modern addition. The shift also allows for two courtyards.

The striking feature of the new addition is its roof with an inverted pitch, a nod to sustainability that conceals an array of solar panels, harnessing the power of the sun.This intelligent integration of renewable energy sources seamlessly blends functionality with aesthetics. Echoing the ethos of responsible resource utilization, this feature suggests a symbiotic relationship between architecture and nature. Off the grid and on an isolated vineyard, the two volumes play off one another, with the more modern twin peaking out from the historic one.

The pitched roof and the inverted pitch are visible on the interior telling the story of their relationship, as does the position of the waterspout on the walled façade on the west – suggesting something collecting water behind the wall. Glass on two of the four walls at the connection of the existing was to resist touching the fienile with the new stone walls. The fienile is now a sculpture studio for a family deep into the arts where marble is readily available to carve.

The sculpture studio has large glass doors to move big art pieces out into the exterior courtyard for final detail work and for loading onto a truck below. The basement under the light-filled sculpture studio is a “messy” clay studio with similar views to the cypress-covered hills through a glass garage door. The historic fienile was fully rebuilt to be entirely earthquake-proof and insulated to today’s energy standards, all while retaining the craft of local building methods.