Location: Flims, Grisons, Switzerland.
Architect: Valerio Olgiati Architect.
When this house was refinished and painted yellow before being renovated, it earned the nickname “the yellow house” despite being vacant for twenty years. According to a contract between the Parish of Flims and the architect’s father Rudolf, who is also an architect, the property was originally owned by the Parish and was intended to be renovated in line with his own architectural principles. He required, among other things, that the home be painted white and that the roof be finished with stone slabs.
The Parish decided to convert it into an exhibition room Rudolf passed away. Strict measures had to be taken because the dwelling house’s intricate internal construction was unsuitable for the new use.
The structure was entirely gutted; the interior was reconstructed using solid wood, the outside plasterwork was taken off to reveal the walls’ natural stone, and the roof was taken off and replaced with slabs of stone of varying shapes. Windows and apertures that were no longer required were filled in, and new concrete reveals were installed in other places. The new slab-stone roof, the original stone exterior walls, and the new inner wood structure were all painted white at the end.
