By Pierre d’Avoine

San Salvatore in Montione, Umbria, Italy is a house, pool and landscape designed by Pierre d’Avoine Architects and realised over a seven year period from 2010 to 2016. The project was commissioned by a client for whom the practice previously designed a flat in the attic of a Marylebone mansion block, London. San Salvatore includes the alteration and conversion of an existing group of buildings, dating back to the 14th century, that comprised a chapel and two houses, into a summer residence. The project is located in a wooded landscape on the eastern edge of the Umbrian mountains with a panoramic view over the Tiber valley, and includes a new in-situ concrete swimming pool, pool room and terrace and the restoration of a ruined olive grove and surrounding landscape. The book is a record of the project, photographed by David Grandorge at moments during its construction. The book includes essays by Peder Duelund Mortensen (emeritus professor, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture Copenhagen) and Pierre d’Avoine and a site diary/ reflection by Kuo Jze Yi (AA graduate) who was the project architect. Mo Wong (AA graduate) made the paper model and drawings.