Cascina Bosco Fornasara

Earth – isn’t this what you long for:
To be invisible, reborn within us?
Isn’t this your dream –
To one day become invisible?
Earth! Invisible!
What is your urgent task,
If not to transform?

R. M. Rilke
Cascina Bosco Fornasara
Renovation of a section of Cascina Bosco, a building dating back to the early 19th century. The renovated area now includes a warehouse and a wing converted into a hospitality facility. In addition to structural reinforcement, the building envelope was insulated using zero-kilometer rice husk, produced by the farm itself, along with cork panels. Many furnishing components were made by salvaging centuries-old wood that had long been abandoned in the farmhouse.
Cascina Bosco Fornasara Hospitality architecture
2019
Nicorvo (PV)
Functional recovery and energy requalification
Cavity wall insulation with rice husk
testo a sx

Cascina Bosco is not only a building, but an integrated project for sustainable coexisting between territory and local community. It’s a farm that brings together the restoration of a family farmhouse and an agricultural approach rooted in ancient seeds and natural cultivation techniques, balancing tradition and innovation.

 

Its production philosophy embraces a form of  radical organic, grounded in the synergy between ecosystem and agriculture. The way of inhabiting the space also reflects this vision: maximum attention is paid to energy self-sufficiency (through photovoltaics), the reuse of waste materials, and the reduction of environmental impact

 

A project that cultivates not only the land, but also the relationships between people and other living species, promoting biodiversity and environmental care.

 

 

 

 
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Our work seamlessly integrated into this broader, coherent vision that continued to evolve even after our intervention.
 
The renovation was driven by both practical needs and a desire to celebrate history. Situated along the Via Francigena has always been a natural place of hospitality for pilgrims. Restoring it as an accommodation facility meant bringing back to life the stories of those places. The sustainability of this reality obviously depends on the farm, making it necessary to realize a warehouse for storage of materials
 
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The renovation was challenging also for architectural constraints and health regulations, but we were committed to staying fully aligned with the clients’ lifestyle choices, right down to the details, such as the use of traditional lime-based plasters for wall finishes.
 
Our support was significant also in the allocation of funds from a public tender. We ensured that self-produced natural materials could meet certified technical standards.
 
nostri progetti
Our projects also respond to the need to maintain a relationship between interior and exterior, between humans and the environment. We don’t want to shut nature out of our homes, we want to feel it breathing through the walls. Stories of changing seasons intertwine with human stories, with rice paddies, and with every stage of rice production.
 
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riso

Rice: from foundation to cavities of life

The choice to use rice husk, a byproduct of rice processing, produced directly by the farm, represents a tangible symbol of all this. Tangible because it is concretely integrated into the construction of the  building, in a functional way as a natural insulating material and a n element of well-being. 
 
Rice is the backbone of the local rural economy and of the farm itself, rice  nourishes both the land and the pilgrim, and now rice husk ensures a welcoming, healthy refuge along the journey
 
 
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tempo ritrovato

Time Reclaimed

When the owners showed us the ancient oak wood found on the property, we thought it was important to enhance them and give them a new life with new functions.
 
This led to the idea of incorporating this wood into the renovation, using it such as  countertops and interior window sills.
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