Private collections are difficult to map, especially if their owners avoid publicity: many of them prefer to share their treasures only with a narrow circle of friends. There are, of course, opposite situations, when a collector opens his property to everyone on certain days of the week or by prior arrangement, and sometimes on an ongoing basis, like a full-fledged museum. Such galleries are distinguished by a variety of architecture and can be old palazzo in historic cities (Palazzo Grassi in Venice with the Francois Pinault collection), castles in a picturesque area or private houses (Goetz Gallery in Munich).
Italian collector Antonio Dalle Nogare - one of the leading in Europe - decided to build what he calls it, "a private space for art" on the outskirts of Bolzano, combining housing and an art gallery on a total area of 2,400 m2. To implement this idea, he invited famous local architects:
Walter Angonese and Andrea Marastoni. The construction work was carried out by Mr. Dalle Nogare's own construction company (he inherited this business from his father).
The relief of the site has a very steep slope, but a panorama of the city opens from there. It was formerly a 1980s building owned by the Dalle Nogare family, which was partially demolished for a new project. According to the building codes of the region, only the existing volume could remain above the surface of the earth, and new functions had to be placed underground. The thing is that in South Tyrol they are very sensitive to the landscape, and in certain areas, the construction of new buildings is simply impossible, however, during restoration or reconstruction, existing objects can be changed. In the case of gallery spaces, the underground location was even better, so this architectural solution turned out to be logical. The project required significant excavation and some of the excavated material was subsequently used in new construction.
The project, realized three years later, was called the “collector's house”. Today, it serves not only as the residence of Antonio Dalle Nogare and his family, an art gallery, where, by the way, you can get absolutely free, by prior arrangement by phone or e-mail, but also as a residence for artists (as a rule, two people are invited a year). The owner of the house believes that only by observing the birth of a work, one can really penetrate its essence. An interesting fact is that the artist who is invited to live and work in the house is not at all obliged to report on the results of his work and arrange the final exhibition: everything depends on his desires.
How did the collector's house turn out? The first thing that catches your eye is a large curved wall, which, according to the architects, was supposed to become a visual mediator between the interior and the Tyrol landscape around. The volume of the building fits very well into the environment, and from the outside it seems that it is, as it were, molded from separate elements, like some kind of organic form that naturally grows on the slope.
What is happening inside the art gallery can be observed through two windows in the green slope. The gallery part occupies two lower underground levels and includes five spaces, the largest of which is 400 m2. The cleanliness of the details here seems incredible: the floor is made of narrow boards of light wood, natural light coming in from above, the necessary technical equipment that controls humidity and temperature. The architects and the client did a lot of analytical work before starting the implementation, in particular, they visited many world museums - from the London Tate to the small Kunsthalle in Austria and Switzerland.
The building also houses an art library, which is available to all comers - again, by prior arrangement - and serves as an intermediate zone between the exhibition spaces below and the Dalle Nogare family home located above. The hosts live on the topmost floor, and all other living areas are provided to the artists as a residence.
Antonio Dalle Nogare admits that he created his collection based on his own flair; he also explains: "My father was already a collector, and for me, as for my brother Josef, this hobby has become something natural since childhood." With the same amazing naturalness, he shares his passion with others, allowing them to see masterpieces from the 18th century to the present day in the “collector's house” (and this dwelling itself is also a work of art), which, according to the architects, will be covered in half a century “the patina of time”and will merge with the South Tyrolean landscape, becoming its continuation.
