Developing an ex-nihilo structure means focusing on the specifics of the wine cellar program, in its relationship to the ground, and in its function of transforming a raw material into a finished product. Beyond the functional and practical characteristics required by a winery, we were inspired by the plant, the vine, as the raw material for wine emerging from the soil.

From there, we work on an analogy between Architecture and Viticulture. Viticulture is the transformation of a raw material, the grape fruit from the vine plant, into the finished product, wine. Architecture is also the transformation of a raw material, which is ideally found in situ, into a constructed building, the wine-cellar.

This transformation process must resonate at all scales in the building. The architecture, like the vine, takes root in the ground, from which it draws the resources to emerge and push upwards, in search of light.