Modernism in the mountains

The Dolomite mountains of South Tyrol are the last place you'd expect to find a temple of modernist design
  
  


Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
Briol is a unique pensione in the mountains of South Tyrol, Austria. In 1928, Viennese painter Hubert Lanzinger gutted this traditional Alpine chalet and turned it into a modernist “temple of the sun” Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
The stone and wood building may look a little shabby around the edges, but there is a good reason for this: not a fixture or fitting of the classic design has been touched since it was built Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
Lanzinger took down all the internal walls, replacing them with broad staircases, 15 airy rooms, and huge windows and skylights, which allow the light to flood in Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
Lanzinger initialled his work in the dining room. The painter was a student of Bauhaus, and this influence can be seen in Briol’s architecture, graphics and interior design. Like other modernists, such as Glasgow’s Charles Renni Mackintosh, he designed every fixture and fitting, right down to the elegant crockery and cutlery Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
The interior has faded gracefully over the years so that the 80-year-old larch and cherry floors and spruce furniture are today pale blond and have the soft velvety feel of driftwood Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
From the balcony of the bedrooms, there are magnificent views across the Isarco valley to the craggy limestone peaks of the Dolomites, which turn violet in the warm glow of the setting sun Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
There are hundreds of walking trails criss-crossing the Dolomites. From Briol, the Rittner Horn (2,270m) is a three-hour, 1,000m ascent through pine forests and Alpine pastures Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
Breakfast and afternoon tea with homemade cake - perfect medication after a long walk - are served on the terrace overlooking the mountains Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
Sunrise in the Isarco valley. The Dolomites may not be the highest mountains in Europe, but they are the most dramatic: spiky snow-capped towers of ancient coral-based rock (millions of years ago they were under the sea) that change colour with the shifting light, reaching skyward from beautiful meadowed valleys Photograph: Mathias Michel
Pensione Briol Sud Tyrol
Pensione Briol (+ 39 (0)471 650125, briol.it) from €69.50pp per night half-board plus afternoon tea. Ryanair flies Stansted-Verona (Brescia) and to Milan (Orio al Serio) from various UK airports. jet2.com flies to Milan (Orio al Serio) from Leeds-Bradford, and bmibaby.com flies from Birmingham Photograph: Mathias Michel
 

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