An award for landscapes and architecture

Venetian wineries also win for their ability to apply wine to art, and specifically wine to architecture.

This is once again demonstrated by the prize awarded by the first edition of the competition 'The medal of wine architecture', conceived by the Order of Architects of Treviso, in agreement with the Municipality of Valdobbiadene. The initiative is dedicated to projects for the transformation, care and enhancement of the landscape and places devoted to wine-growing.

The winner was "Il brolo della cantina Gorgo", designed by the Bricolo Falsarella associati studio, built in Custoza, in the Veronese region where the white berry DOC wine of the same name is produced. The award was assigned for the ability with which the intervention was conducted "to reuse and extend the existing building, under the banner of elegance". It was selected from the 32 projects submitted by a jury of experts, chosen from among scholars of the landscape in general and wine territories in particular: Gerd Bergmaister and Fiorenzo Valbonesi, architects; Paola Cigalotto, urban planner; Simone Ghiaroni, anthropologist; Camilla Zanarotti, agronomist and landscape expert.

In emphasising the overall quality of the entries, the jury also deemed it appropriate to award two special mentions. The first was awarded to the design of 'La pausa', by architect Stefano Tinelli &Co., at SottoPerlo, in Funer di Valdobbiadene, in the province of Treviso. "In this case," reads the motivation, "the recovery of a complex of buildings within an advanced wooded landscape on abandoned terraces was appreciated".

The second special mention went to 'Nuova cantina Pieropan', designed by architect Moreno Zurlo of Acme Studio in Verona, designed together with the Pieropan family and built in the walled city, also in the province of Verona. The decisive factor was the harmony preserved between the environment and the structure "of extensive dimensions, which grafts itself, with skill and attention to context, into the surrounding space, with simple and elegant lines". Two years ago, the project had already won the Global Best of Wine Tourism Awards in Mendoza, Argentina, after being selected in the national Best of Wine Tourism contest for the Architecture and Landscape category.