AVENALE - THE FIRST RURAL HOUSE IN ENERG. CLASS. A I felt upset, when I first showed the house to the purchasers. Instead of the house built in an indefinite Seventies’ style I was suggesting, they wanted a traditional rural house. For days we visited several houses in the countryside, then I understood that what they really wanted was an open space, with a stunning view over the landscape. The landscape was far more important than the house, and it almost came as a surprise to me. So I suggested that they should see this property, and I tried to mitigate the hesitation they showed at first sight. “What you see, may undergo many changes”. But, they wouldn’t understand that in fact the house not only needed modifications, but it could also undergo total changes. It was with help from Sergio (Architect Sergio Marinelli), that they finally believed the “changes” I was trying to mumble. The old house was destroyed, and a new one was built more distant from the road: they had a rural house rebuilt, which was their desire as we first met. Being from Milan, they also wanted to add a value to their property, and asked it should be hi-tech. That is how the first Class A rural house was built. Heat and electricity are produced by solar energy. The project management also needed an innovative approach: spaces had to be planned in an original way, and construction materials had to be of high quality, as well as fixtures, glass, the heating and electrical systems. It was a fascinating research, and also a pleasant fulfillment to combine new codes, and seize the chance to make real new ideas in the construction field. Architect Sergio Marinelli’s Office has been gaining new consciousness in planning and designing rural houses, and also in restoration. The aim is to find the best compromise between new and old, through the continuous and regular search for new technologies to be applied, without distorting the original style of Le Marche’s rural house.