Villa Petra

After a period spent at the American studiò Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the American architect of German origin Peter Schneck (1937-1990) moves to Rome to collaborate with Michele Busiri Vici. He follows him in Sardinia in the early sixties, when the Agha Khan begins the building development of the Costa Smeralda. With Busiri Vici, Schneck designs numerous villas and subsequently works on his own on the construction of some tourist complexes such as the Hotel Nuraghe in Baia Sardinia.
The appearance of a small fortress: perched on the top of the rocky relief, stereometric and grooved pavilions, almost turted, are articulated around the open space of the terraces and silently dominate the panorama of the Mediterranean scrub. The building is ascribed to the period of artistic maturity of the architect: after an initial adherence to the "moorish" style of Busiri Vici, Schneck remains deeply influenced by a trip to Perù, during the Which is struck by the monumental strength and geometric simplicity of the ruins of Machu Picchu

Villa Petra It is broken down into a succession of indoor and outdoor environments that gravitate around a central patio open to the pool. The exterior walls are covered in non-squared stone, obtained in situ from the excavation for the casting of the foundations; the construction material. therefore, is in continuity with the promontory itself on which the house stands.
The walls are furrowed by deeply backward sky-earth openings that create a dramatic and vigourous impression, in explicit reference to the mega-Itic constructions of the nuraghi. On the other hand, the interior is simply plastered and furnished, and overlooks the surrounding rock and sea views. The pool is obtained from the closure and terraced of the existing gap in the granite stone promontory which, thus delimited, becomes a small Rocky basin.