In the wooded hills of Piedmont, northern Italy, a stainless steel structure rises quietly among the trees. Designed by Carroccera Collective, The Missing Room is a nomadic open-air pavilion situated on the grounds of a former vineyard.
Free from walls or ceiling, this elemental space invites visitors to live among the trees—cooking, bathing, resting—under a canopy of leaves and sky. At once primitive and poetic, the structure reinterprets fundamental human rituals through a constellation of forms: fire, water, and movement. A seven-meter monolithic chimney anchors the space—one side powering ovens, the other heating water and radiating warmth. Smoke trails through the branches above, a visual signal amid the dense forest.
The pavilion is demountable and rests lightly on the earth via screw-pile foundations. This non-invasive approach ensures no trace is left behind, a gesture of deep respect for the landscape it temporarily inhabits.
Water plays a central role, flowing through a hidden network of channels and basins. Users direct its path manually—filling a bath, supplying a sink, or providing for animals via an integrated trough. The communal bath, designed for three to four people, can transform into a warm sleeping platform. A sail canopy offers shade by day and diffuses light by night, turning the space into a glowing forest lantern.
Approaching The Missing Room is a journey of gradual discovery. Glimpses of smaller mirrored structures scattered through the trees prepare visitors for the encounter, layering the landscape with intrigue and anticipation.
Here, domesticity is not prescribed—it is reimagined. With no walls to define or divide, guests become part of the ecology, moving to nature’s rhythms. Fire, water, and silence invite not just use, but presence.
