We've seen a couple of very interesting eco-friendly, semi-submerged underground hotels and homes lately. (e.g. Villa Vals, The Underground home of Gary Neville)
And here's yet another one that I cant wait to see finished. Designed by architect and designer Matteo Thun, the latest KlimaHotel© in Bozen, Italy, is a redesign of the Bella Vista Trafoi, and is the first certified eco-friendly hotel that guarantees KlimaHotel© criteria and has a holistic approach to sustainability. In the catalog of criteria KlimaHotel© three pillars of sustainability are the concepts "nature" (Ecology), "Life" (socio-cultural aspects) and "Transparency" (Economy).
The design consists of 11 individual hostels built into the Italian hillside that utilize economical and ecological methods of heating, cooling and building. The project began in late 2009 and the new Bella Vista hotel is not expected to be up and running until 2011.
In this sense, the architecture of the new hotel BELLA VISTA reflects the local resources: it is the heart of the nature of the national parks around the Stelvio, with its towering mountains surrounding the city Trafoi, the hotel was built with materials from the immediate surrounding area. The architecture is fed by the local culture, interprets and proposes new solutions. Like the lives of local people is completely determined by the nature, followed by the architectural forms of nature and her contact simultaneously.
Bella Vista's dominance over the place transformed into a co-existence with the earth. Hence arises the architectural design of nature do not, but submits to her. BELLA VISTA so far has no dominant form, BELLA VISTA is the landscape itself - a soft, hilly terrain, which creates smooth forms in the meadows at the foot of the steeply rising mountain range Ortler place. At this location, the nature of their strength shows that the earth becomes a protective shell and thus the actual hostel.
above: Matteo Thun
images and information courtesy of Matteo Thun and casaclima
About Klima Hotels and Clima Houses:
A KlimaHotel helps the tourist to follow the path of sustainability - in all different phases of the project development, the project implementation and the realization of a welcoming structure. The quality seal acts as a guarantor of a secure and profitable investment. A KlimaHotel is also a guarantor for the guest - it not only establishes certain criteria relating to energy consumption, but extends this to the whole hotel life. The guest of a hotel with KlimaHotel-status is to guarantee the respect of nature. At the same time it is a unique and unforgettable vacation in the context of the nature of the direct environment of indigenous culture certainly. He has the opportunity to experience, tradition and customs of the place directly and coloration.
The evaluation is performed through a direct method of delivery points that correspond to achieve its sustainability goals in the related areas of legal proceedings. The certification of accommodation facilities is based on the three pillars of sustainability: ecology, economy and socio-cultural aspects.
www.agenziacasaclima.it