Situated on the always spectacular Lake Geneva, with views of the Alps, Villa Montasser is born. The house is a sensitive and delicate reaction to the dialogue between water and landscape, a proposal by architect Leopold Banchini that seeks, through the simplicity of its volumetry, to serve as a tribute to the horizontal line that separates the imposing mountains and the lake shown in the work of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler.

The villa has a long and simple façade that works as a blank canvas in which the surroundings are reflected thanks to a pool of water of the same length, which is complemented by a swimming pool and a floating terrace. The project is the metaphor of an erratic block transported by ancient glaciers to the shores of the lake.

Perched on the surface of the water, Villa Montasser by Leopold Banchini, constrained by building regulations, is developed on three levels, with the living spaces on the ground floor opening onto the surroundings, while the underground bedrooms open onto a closed and inaccessible courtyard covered by a thin layer of rainwater.

Inside the house, one can observe how, due to the interplay of voids and materials, the dancing reflections of light bounce off both the ponds surrounding the facades and the wooden walls and ceiling that make it up, thus projecting their reflections and creating an atmosphere reminiscent of the constantly evolving and changing sky inspired by Hodler's paintings.

Villa Montasser por Leopold Banchini. Fotografía por Rory Gardiner

Villa Montasser by Leopold Banchini. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.

Project description by Leopold Banchini

Ferdinand Hodler painted mountains reflected in Swiss lakes, again and again. He was obsessed with this double inverted landscape, constantly evolving with the changing sky and the movement created by the wind blowing on the water’s surface. In 1867, aged 14, he painted his first lakes and sold them to passing tourists. In 1918, fifty years later, he died in Geneva, leaving behind a few unfinished sketches of Mont-Blanc reflected in Lake Geneva, as seen from his apartment balcony.

Villa Montasser sits beside the beautiful Lake Geneva, looking out at the Alps. As a reaction to the majestic landscape, the building tries to stay as simple and humble as possible. The long, plain façade is a blank canvas reflecting into a water basin of the same length. A singular long window opens onto a floating terrace, again of similar dimensions. The reflection of the chimney becomes the stairs, leading to the pool. An erratic block, carried by the ancient glaciers from the alps to the lake shore, sits upon the water surface. The main façade is a symetrcal reflection, a tribute to the horizontal line separating the looming mountains and reflective lake in Hodler’s work.

Villa Montasser by Leopold Banchini. Photograph by Rory Gardiner
Villa Montasser by Leopold Banchini. Photograph by Rory Gardiner.

The long rectangular plan, highly constrained by building regulations, develops on three levels. While the ground floor living spaces largely open out to the surroundings, the underground bedrooms open to an enclosed, inaccessible patio, filled with a thin layer of rainwater collected from the roof. The light bounces off the two basins before entering the house, projecting its dancing reflections onto the wooden walls and ceiling.

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Dates
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2022-2024.

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Location
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Mies, Switzerland.

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Leopold Banchini was born in Geneva in 1981 and is an architect graduated from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechinique Fédérale de Lausanne). He is also Master in Architecture from the University of Lausanne (2007) and graduate of the Glasgow School of Art (2004).

Is a visiting professor in the HEAD (Haute Ecole de Design et) in Geneva since 2010 and Assistant Professor at the EPFL since 2009. He has also been Archozoom project designer in 2009.

Has been placed in Lot / ek Architects (New York) between the years 2004/2005, as an assistant project Art Basel (Basel) in 2005, and as a project partner of the collective Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) that same year in Rotterdam.

He has developed his work as an architect in b720 Arquitectos (Barcelona) during the years 2007 and 2008, and Group8 Architects (Geneva) in 2009.

In addition, since 2008 part of 1to100 Architects, and architectural collective based in Geneva. Its members have been active and decisive parts in projects such as the winning participation of Bahrain at the last Venice Biennale - RECLAIM Golden Lion 2011, exhibitions such as The Gulf - OMA-AMO's participation at the Venice Biennale 2007 and publications such as AMO-Rem Koolhaas's Al Manakh. Parallel to that, they conduce many different operations ranging from architecture, to journalism, until urban design. They have teaching positions at the EPFL and the University of Arts and Design in Geneva.

Its aim is to take position and initiate reflexions upon our contemporary environment.

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