MoDus Architects

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office 

MoDusArchitects

ARCHITECTS
Modusarchitects

ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS
Elektro Josef Graber

SITE WORKS
Goller Bögl

PROJECT TEAM
Irene Braito, Filippo Pesavento

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Luca Bragagna

CLIENT
Bressanone Tourist Association

MANUFACTURERS
Aster Gmbh, Barth, Bernardi & Figli, Cimadom Decor, Ellecosta Metallbau, Huber Hannes, Jungmann, Kronlift, Saxl Bodenbeläge, Stampfl Bauspenglerei, Tischlerei Goller-anders, Trias, Winkler-verputz

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Sandy Attia, Matteo Scagnol

THERMO HYDRAULIC INSTALLATIONS
Pezzei

CONTRACTOR
Unionbau Gmbh

PHOTOGRAPHS
Oskar Da Riz

AREA
430 M²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Brixen, Italy

CATEGORY
Office Buildings

Text description provided by architect.

Located just outside the historical centre of the South Tyrolean city, adjacent to the Bishop’s Palace of Bressanone, the eye-catching concrete building is the last episode in a series of “architectural homicides” dating from the 1800s up until the 1970s.

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz

TreeHugger takes on the qualities of airiness and levity in alignment with the site’s antecedent structures, which were dedicated to the welcoming of visitors, with their respective features of slender columns, deep loggias, and delicate overhangs.

The site is characterized by an existing monumental tree that governs the design. TreeHugger twists and turns around the central platanus to form an inseparable connection between nature and edifice.

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz

The visual and tactile qualities of the roughhewn walls of the bush-hammered concrete and the scaly bark of the plane-tree mimic one another in their juxtaposition.

With the tree trunk as the fulcrum, five arched spans release the building from the ground, accompanying the tree upwards to draw an open frame around the tree’s crown.

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz

In order to achieve the seamless, vertical surface of the outer concrete shell, the full height of the walls was cast from one flow and in successive sections to form a continuous 9-metre-high ring, within which the concrete plates were then poured.

The curvature of the walls, together with the floor slabs form a collaborative composition in which the form, the structure, and the building facades become one.

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz

The building is almost entirely glazed on the ground floor, which houses the public spaces and info booths, to allow maximum transparency and permeability.

The entrance is clearly marked by the inset windows and the large overhang that cantilevers out towards the new square.

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz

The upper floor, housing the administrative offices, is closed and enigmatic in the sequence of its convex surfaces.

With its welcoming curves balanced by the decisive concrete tectonic, TreeHugger strikes up a conversation with its historical context while organically attracting passersby and visitors as a magnet devoted to the sharing of local culture.

TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz


TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
© Oskar Da Riz


TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
East facade
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
West facade
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
South facade
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
North facade


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Axonometric scheme
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Concept diagram


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Section
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
Section


TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
Floor plan level 0
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
Floor plan level -1
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
Floor plan level 1


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Site plan
TreeHugger Tourist Information Office
Floor 0 site plan

MoDus Architects
T +39 0472 201581
MoDus Architects
Via Fallmerayer, 7, 39042 Bressanone BZ, Italy