“Italian Architecture Award” 2024 to the Ceresé designer winery in the lands of “The Betrothed”

One of the most interesting phenomena in the Italian wine world, over the last few decades, are the “designer cellars”, designed by star architects and the most prestigious architecture firms, now considered the new “Cathedrals of Wine” because of their beauty. (Italy has reached the top, thanks to the Antinori winery in Chianti Classico, number 1 of the “World’s Best Vineyards” 2022, and thanks to the many other examples WineNews has told you about). They are also a synthesis of aesthetics and productivity, their link to the territory, the landscape, traditions and culture that architects translate, and then put in their projects, making them welcoming “hubs”, as well as offering knowledge of the “terroirs”, from the most famous to the lesser-known ones. A “designer winery” has won the best building in the “Italian Architecture Award 2024”, promoted by Maxxi of Rome and the Milan Triennale, awarded to Studio Pizzi, directed by Pietro Martino Federico Pizzi, for the winery project Vinicola Ceresé, in the Montevecchia and Valle del Curone Park, in Lecco. The motivation reads, “for having been able to harmonize the symbolic and formal qualities of pure geometry, such as the circle, and at the same time a strong bond with the territory, local materials and the landscape”.
The Ceresé Winery was founded by Maria Enrica Bonatti and Giovanni Mameli. The project dates back to 2023, in an ì area extending just over 20 hectares, with Pinot Noir, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay vineyards, at the foot of the hill of the famous Sanctuary Madonna del Carmelo, in the lands where the Italian author Alessandro Manzoni’s masterpiece novel “The Betrothed” takes place. The story is set on “that branch of Lake Como, which turns towards the south, between two uninterrupted mountain chains, and all the bays and gulfs”, in the ancient settlement, whose name has remained the same since 1571, as evidenced by a topographical sketch of the Montevecchia parish, created when Cardinal Federico Borromeo visited the Sanctuary.
The objective of the 5th edition of the “Italian Architecture Award” is to enhance Italian architecture, to promote and spread the work of designers committed to innovation, paying particular attention to the social impact. The award was created by two prestigious institutions active in the sector, and was held recently at Maxxi. Here, the “Lifetime Achievement Award” was awarded to Pierluigi Nicolin, born in 1941, architect and critic of International renown, for his activity as Director of the historic architecture magazine, “Lotus International”. The “Under 35 Award” went to the winning project by Nxt 2024, the Mazzi program for young designers and the enhancement of the Museum square, to the Quintessere installation by the Grazzini Group Tonazzini Colombo. Alessandro Giuli, president of Fondazione Maxxi, and Stefano Boeri, president of Triennale Milano, attended, among others, the awards ceremony. The award jury was chaired by Lorenza Baroncelli, while the jurors included Stefano Boeri, Pippo Ciorra, Nina Bassoli, Cornelia Mattiacci, Sara Marini, Stefano Pujiatti and Michael Obrist.