In Vicenza, Italy, the historic Villa Donà is now home to offices and a new cafe. RigonSimonetti, a Vicenza-based architecture firm run by Francesco Rigon and Margherita Simonetti carefully restored and renovated the villa. The office uses the striations of time exposed on the Venetian villa as a guide to carving out new spaces for work and gathering. Like the strata of sediment, Vis-à-vis, as the project is named, renders new and old changes to building changes over time, turning them both legible and coherent.

The site’s nearly 29,000 square feet (8,840 square meters) is divided into a main building; barchessa, the wing that connects the main building to the road; and a new annex which sandwiches a garden with the barchessa.

The barchessa, defined by its traditional row of arches, extends 3,000 square feet (926 square meters) from the main building. The facade bears the marks of multiple transformations over the centuries, from 18th-century modifications to 19th-century alterations. Of the three archways that line the barchessa’s exterior, the central arch stands apart, as a protruding wooden box suspends out over a glass opening. The interruption marks the new intervention in the site and hints at the new additions within.