Sheet 01 — Practice
Chur 593 m · Milano 120 m
Practice
Val Müstair, winter 2012 — the first site
01 — Origin
Lena Caduff and Matteo Rinaldi met restoring a 1640s farmhouse that had lost its roof to snow. The village masons showed them how to lay a wall without mortar.
They have built that way since.
Atelier Sesvenna works only where the climate sets the terms: high valleys, passes, coastlines that freeze. Every project starts with a winter on paper and a summer on site.
Sixteen of us split between Chur, close to the sites, and Milano, close to the workshops and the engineers who keep our roofs on.
The year sets the method
We plan every project around one fixed fact: on most of our sites, you can only build between the thaw and the first snow.
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Dec → Apr · Studio
01 Draw
Design, models and every detail resolved while the sites are under snow.
May · On foot
02 Survey
We walk the site after the thaw, find the stone and mark every tree we'll use.
Jun → Sep · On site
03 Build
Twelve to sixteen weeks. One of us lives on site for the whole window.
Oct → Nov · Closing
04 Close
Roof on before the first snow. Interiors finish through winter, inside the shell.
02 — Partners
Founded 2012
03 — Studio, 16 people
Lena Caduff
Founding partner
Chur
Matteo Rossi
Founding partner
Milano
Anna Pult
Site lead
Chur
Luca Tognina
Architect
Chur
Sara Bezzola
Associate
Chur
Giulia Ferrari
Architect
Milano
Marco Salis
Architect
Milano
Reto Cantieni
Construction manager
Chur
Nina Vital
Junior architect
Chur
Jon Casty
Timber specialist
Chur
Elena Conti
Studio manager
Milano
Andri Flury
Architect
Chur
Press & awards
04 — Recognition
