Cabane 7L is an observatory designed by Manuel Bouzas for the third edition of the Festival des Cabanes at Villa Medici in Rome. Situated at one of the highest points in the eternal city, the Cabane 7L serves as an observatory that mediates between the skyline and the gardens of Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome.

In these Renaissance gardens, the installation offers visitors the opportunity to ascend to the canopy level of these historic gardens and discover a panoramic view never captured before. Constructed entirely from mass timber, the project serves as a temporary venue for visitors, residents, and artists, reactivating one of the city’s most iconic locations. From May 22 to September 29, Cabane 7L will host various cultural events, including performances, concerts, and conversations.

The project, designed by Manuel Bouzas in collaboration with Librairie 7L and CHANEL, is part of the 2024 edition of the Festival des Cabanes. This summer festival brings together six different installations to transform the gardens of the French Academy into a laboratory for architectural experimentation.

Primarily built with wood, the festival centers around the concept of the cabin (cabane), serving as a platform for a dialogue between architecture, landscape, art, and design.

A tribute to the gardens of Villa Medici.

The project draws inspiration from its unique topographical and historical context. In the sixteenth century, on the outskirts of ancient Rome, Ferdinando I de’ Medici transformed the residence of Cardinal Ricci on the Pincian Hill into a Renaissance villa known for its distinctive architecture and gardens. Since the establishment of the French Academy in the early nineteenth century, generations of Romans have witnessed the evolution of the academy’s gardens, which outline their iconic silhouette of pine trees. Cabane 7L poses a thought-provoking question: What have those trees witnessed over these centuries? 

The installation provides an elevated public space at the level of the garden’s trees, whose canopies, although growing there for centuries, will not remain forever.

The structure comprises six timber porticos that support two platforms: one at ground level and another 7 meters high. The first one welcomes visitors and hosts public events, while the second one serves as an observation deck. It features rocking chairs, benches, and a picnic table, allowing visitors to enjoy a break from the Roman summer. A cross-laminated timber staircase braces the structure diagonally, replicating the same number of steps as the historical helical staircase inside the palace. The structure culminates in a V-shaped canopy that protects the observatory from the sun and rain, providing shade and welcoming the breeze running over the hill.

The project is designed to be assembled and disassembled, and to guarantee wind resistance without standard foundations, 16 water storage bags of 260 liters are installed beneath the ground platform.

The project is built with sustainable certified laminated fir. Half of the structure’s weight consists of all the CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. All the beams were industrially processed in Spain by SIDO Madera and assembled on-site using dovetail joints, avoiding the need for more complex and carbon-intensive alternatives such as steel brackets. The timber was shipped by boat to Rome, significantly reducing carbon emissions compared to other forms of transport like trucks or trains. This allows for reconsidering the boundaries of local sourcing when working with sustainable materials. Once in Rome, the lightness of the beams and their prefabrication allowed for manual installation by one or two people, reducing costs, time, and risks. The construction of the project was completed in just five days.

From May 22 to September 29, the pavilion hosts various cultural activities organized by the Villa Medici, Librairie 7L, and CHANEL. These events have so far included conversations with figures such as Emmanuele Coccia and Alessandro Michele, performances by François Chaignaud and Aymeric Hainaux, and concerts by Léonie Pernet, among others.

About Villa Medici and Librairie 7L

The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici was founded by Louis XIV in 1666. It is a French institution that has been housed since 1803 in the Villa Medici, a sixteenth-century mansion surrounded by a seventeen-acre park, located on the Pincian Hill in the heart of Rome. It is a national public institution under the authority of the Ministry of Culture, fulfilling three complementary roles: hosting artists and art historians in residence for long stays of one year or shorter periods; implementing a cultural program covering all artistic and creative fields aimed at a broad audience; and preserving, restoring, studying, and promoting both its architectural and landscape heritage and its collections. The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici is directed by Sam Stourdzé. 

The Librairie 7L was founded in 1999 by Karl Lagerfeld in Paris and was acquired by CHANEL in 2021. The name 7L pays tribute to the address 7 rue de Lille in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, where it is located, and it was also Karl Lagerfeld’s lucky number. 7L reflects the unconditional love its founder had for books and photography. The 700-square-meter space includes a bookstore showcasing new titles on visual arts, a library area where on-site creation is inspired by its personal collection, and a section dedicated to the Éditions 7L publishing house. The selection of books reflects the diversity of artistic production in the 20th and 21st centuries. It features works covering photography, design, decoration, and interior design, as well as monographs on fashion design, exhibition catalogs, and books on gardens and ceramics.

Bio

Manuel Bouzas is a Spanish architect, researcher, and educator currently based in Galicia, Spain, and Ithaca NY, USA, where he teaches at the Architecture Department of Cornell AAP. In 2018, he graduated with distinction from ETSAM and recently completed a Master in Design Studies from Harvard GSD. His work explores the intersection of architecture and ecology through urban installations and design research. Some of his recent works include the Cabane 7L at Villa Medici, Academy of France in Rome, and the Mediterranean Pavilion at the TAC! Festival in Valencia. Manuel has participated in the Spanish Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023 and 2018, and in the Spanish Architecture and Urbanism Biennial in 2021. He has been recognized with the Renzo Piano World Tour Award in 2022, the La Caixa Fellowship in 2021, and the COAM Emerging Award in 2020.

Facts & Credits 
Project title Cabane 7L
Typology Landscape, installation
Location Villa Medici, Rome Italy
Architecture Manuel Bouzas
Team Juan F. De la Torre (Structure), Rosita Palladino (Design)
Date of completion 2024
Area 120 sq. m.
Organizer Festival des Cabanes 2024, Villa Medici 
Contractor SIDO Madera
Collaboration Librairie 7L , CHANEL
Photography Luis Diaz Diaz
Text provided by the architects


RELATED ARTICLES