Open Nest by Openair Suites - Hospitality & Landscape Architecture in Italy
Honorable Mention & Top 10 Finalist | Terraviva International Architecture Competition
Open Nest explores hospitality as a continuous relationship between architecture, landscape and human experience. Structured around the principles of Openness, Awareness and Togetherness, the project transforms hospitality into an immersive sensory experience within a unified spatial system, where accommodation, landscape, circulation, gathering, contemplation and accommodation unfold seamlessly. The proposal is expressed by 3 concept elements: the Nest for accommodation, the Spine for the shared facilities the Nooks for gardens.
The masterplan is organized by a linear axis extends along the site boundary, forming the Spine and organizing the common facilities, and two secondary circulation routes that intersect to create an open meadow. In-between, dense vegetation and gardens generate a green network through which architecture and landscape continuously interweave. The Spine penetrates the landscape as a folded architectural ribbon through a dual relationship of immersion and suspension. Within this linear structure, hospitality is interpreted as a collective experience. Open workshops function as flexible spaces for seasonal activities and local traditions. A dedicated gastronomy space celebrates food as a social ritual. A wellness platform frames the view with two opposing curves: the inner draws nature into the architectural space, while the outer guides visitors toward the horizon. Above, the folded roof rises to form an elevated observatory, while a shallow reflecting basin mirrors the sky, reinforcing the continuity between architecture and nature. Accommodation is distributed throughout the sensory landscape as a constellation of independent suites. Dense vegetation softens the boundaries between built form and open terrain, while raised steel walkways lightly traverse the gardens, allowing ecological continuity beneath them. Seasonal planting, native species, aromatic shrubs and flowering meadows establish a landscape that evolves throughout the year, continuously transforming the visitor's experience.
Scattered through the open gardens, Nooks offer moments of solitude and multisensory engagement. Each nook interprets one of the four natural elements combined with a human sense. Whispering Grove explores the relationship between air and hearing. A planted enclosure creates an acoustic microclimate where wind-responsive vegetation, suspended metal elements and bird-attracting structures generate an ever-changing soundscape. The movement of wind, rainfall and wildlife transforms the garden into a living instrument. Still Point is organized around the relationship between water and sight. A shallow circular basin reflects the sky, surrounding vegetation and changing light conditions, creating an atmosphere of visual stillness. Sunken Garden interprets earth through smell with a recessed circular garden that forms a micro-landscape enclosed by dense aromatic planting. Fire Ring is dedicated to touch. The warmth radiating from the fire pit, together with the tactile materialities of rough stone, timber and weathered metal, creates a spatial experience based on physical presence.
Architecture is conceived as a continuous environmental framework. Structures, landscape, circulation, vegetation and atmosphere are designed as interconnected spatial systems that evolve together over time. Hospitality emerges through an ongoing dialogue between the private, the collective and the landscape itself.
