Busts and other sculptures by Caffetto displayed in the top-floor gallery The main living room with wooden armchairs purchased by Claudio Caffetto for the newly completed house The house is composed of various levels and angled rooms interwoven with corridors The top-floor studio furnished with Marcel Breuer’s ‘B33’ chairs A spiral staircase leads from the living room to the sculpture gallery The Escheresque Italian Villa Caffetto designed by Fausto Bontempi for sculptor Claudio Caffetto It is difficult to take Villa Caffetto in at a single glance. Built for artist Claudio Caffetto (1942-2022), this extraordinary house near Brescia in the Lombardy region of Italy reads like a manifesto for sculptural architecture a composition of geometric shapes and oblique forms in concrete glass and metal as visually complex and intricate as Giovanni Battista Piranesi's famous etchings of imaginary 18th-century staircases represents an Italian movement of late modernist and brutalist tendencies which emerged in the 1970s influenced by the then-popular postmodern and High-Tech trends This specific chapter of 20th-century architecture led to the creation of some of the most experimental and bold examples of modern domestic architecture Villa Caffetto puts this era back into the spotlight The house was designed by little-known architect Fausto Bontempi (b.1935) The latter’s architecture is known for its formal complexity and an obsession with geometry Bontempi graduated in 1962 and became a consultant for the Lombardy region's Department of Urban Planning working on Regulatory Plans for the municipalities of Lake Garda between 1970 and 1975 he built a few experimental houses and other projects around the lake Inspired mostly by Scarpa’s sophisticated attention to detail and material Bontempi challenged the era’s brutalism with an almost deconstructivist take creating wild compositions that defy categorisation His most notable works include the residential complex Cooperativa La Valle in Salò His projects nod not only to Scarpa’s approach but also to the output of his contemporaries who all applied a brutalist aesthetic to complex sculptural forms Bontempi was commissioned to design a home for Caffetto; the latter’s namesake villa was built between 1973 and 1974 ‘Our father lost his mother at a young age he found his first job as a draughtsman in the studio of architect Bruno Fedrigolli to contribute to the family's finances he developed a passion for architecture and met numerous representatives of the Brescian art scene He attended evening drawing and sculpture courses at the Brescian Artists' Association,’ say Metilde and Giovanna Caffetto daughters of Claudio and current owners of Villa Caffetto The artist eventually enrolled at the Art School in Parma his work as a draughtsman brought him into contact with local pewter craftspeople for whom he designed objects such as jugs and plates He was just 19 years old when he opened Metalpilter in Brescia a small pewter craft workshop which later became his main business Together they embarked on building their home and artist studio ‘Our father and Bontempi conceived a house as a universe composed of elements charged with the energy of form matter and light in a dynamic and harmonious relationship with each other the site was always crowded with curious people on Sundays [Because of its unconventional looks and geometries which were not typical for residential architecture] there were rumours that it was an airport and other imaginative interpretations,’ the Caffettos recount escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox The composition of the house is the result of interweaving viewpoints and experiences; rooms and levels dynamically flow into each other equipped with Bontempi's built-in structural details made of wood drama and distortion create an inhabitable sculpture Escher's labyrinth that reflects the creative energy of both its author and his client was fun because seen through the eyes of a child But since it was conceived from the beginning as a house museum for the exhibition of works of art it did not leave much room for freedom and play,’ say Caffetto’s daughters the villa became a place where local artists met These encounters gave rise to Caffetto’s new cultural activity - Edizioni d'Arte Caffetto a business dedicated to the production of multiple editions of artworks in different metals Caffetto created these in the house’s top-floor studio and exhibited them in the glass-roofed gallery next to it The house is currently partly open to the public as a venue for cultural events According to Metilde and Giovanna: ‘The plan is to continue on the path we have embarked on by setting up an association that can expand the cultural offerings here enhance our father's art and the collection of works by the artists who frequented the villa and keep in contact with the academic world so that the house can once again become a meeting place for creatives; a place for experts in the field of architecture and design it will be necessary to step out of the family sphere and create a partnership with professionals in the sector and parties interested in investing in this project.’ Adam Štěch is an architectural historian, curator, writer and photographer, based in Prague. He is the author of books including Modern Architecture and Interiors (2006) editor of design magazine Dolce Vita and a contributor to titles including Wallpaper* and Frame while also teaching at Scholastika in Prague.