06 December 2018

Global trends make now new solutions in the construction industry necessary. The Fraunhofer Innovation Engineering Center (IEC), along with 12 small and medium-sized enterprises in the construction sector in South Tyrol has launched a research project detailed in this regard. Development of innovative and sustainable methods, handcrafted processes, technical and organizational innovations and a lot of planning: these are the main focus of the research team that is part of the Build4future project. Supported by the province, with the participation of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Free University of Bolzano, CasaClima Agency and the TIS Innovation Park for scientific aspects, it has very important aims as to trace strategies for the industrialization of processes in the construction of buildings. The need arises from the current situation of construction companies. These are mostly small or medium size and they have a good level of technical knowledge within them, but this is not enough to put them in competition with other European companies that operate at a lower cost. To meet this challenge, and therefore be in step with the needs of the future, at the beginning of 2011 the Build4Future cooperation project was created; in this project the economy cooperates with science to develop the necessary strategies and measures. The Institute took part at KlimaHouse 2014 with the Build4future group to sensitize the public to the issue of sustainable innovation and, above all, to send out a clear signal that push all going in the same direction. The key word seems to be cooperation between different actors operating in the field in the different phases of design, planning and implementation.   Fraunhofer Italy Established in late 2009 in Bolzano, it is a branch of the Fraunhofer Society, the first organization for applied research in Europe. The name comes from the German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer. The projects to which the company devotes itself are international and able to tap more disciplines: general optics partnership aim to create a network system to achieve the desired results by the various innovation projects. www.fraunhofer.it/it/Progetti/Build4Future.html

Carlo Bardelli

13 March 2019

In Jiye, Lebanon, a home created for wellness and care of the body, integrated like a single organism in a large, exclusive spa. Architecture designed as part of the host landscape, inserted as a residential element in a careful compositional organization of water and gardens, trees and views of the sea.

For Vladimir Djurovic, architectural design is, first of all, a process of listening, of integration with the landscape. In spite of the absence of practices of camouflage, and the orientation toward clear signs, simple and essential forms, precise materials, few in number, usually natural in character, the works of this rigorous, talented contemporary landscape designer are rooted in the tradition and history of the Mediterranean landscape, seen as a complex cultural context and a dialectical process in which forms meet in pursuit of harmony. The designs by Djurovic, his beautiful swimming pools, are clear cuts in the horizon, in this case framing the sea, becoming outstanding features of connection capable of blending the architecture into the host setting. From this viewpoint the design of this exclusive home immersed in greenery, facing the sea, is a good example of a modus operandi open to different solutions but connected to principles of reference that can be repeated case by case.

Observing the plan, one immediately notices that the house, rather that obeying the usual tenets of a ‘compositional’ approach, tends to favor the concept of the route, emphasizing the dense plantings of trees that separate it from the sea, and opening to the water thanks to the large swimming pool, a natural reflecting presence that hosts, on the two short sides, surrounded by greenery, ‘natural’ outcroppings in the form of zigzag crags of stone that magically fragment the perimeter to enter the pool. The house becomes like a backdrop for the designed, constructed landscape, offering well distributed views along its length, with the hill and a solid wall at the level shift, emphasizing the role of the construction as a successful architectural addition to the landscape. The nude facades of irregular blocks of stone, also seen in the interiors, are marked by large, regular openings, darkened by shutters with vertical wooden slats. At the position of the living area, the impermeable back opens toward a tree-lined patio; the result is the effect of a space of passage, enclosed on two sides by greenery and by the swimming pool (sixty meters in length) that previews and underscores the horizon of the sea. After the dining area, organized in a space that extends toward the outside, creating a small courtyard facing the living room, the large kitchen and other rooms for guests, the internal route bends diagonally to reach the large spa area, set back from the staggered linear design of the previous volume, for a more secluded zone devoted to the care of the body. Here an indoor pool with an adjacent hydromassage tub thrusts dynamically toward the garden and the spaces behind it for massages, a sauna and a Turkish bath, then extending further to join a final open area, where the gym encounters a luminous lounge with a complete bar through a continuous full-height glazing. A place for relaxing and encounters, underlining the indoor-outdoor connection, looking toward the fitness zone and anticipating the essential geometries of the more private spaces.

 Carlo Bardelli                    

10 January 2019

ANIMA is the first work of the Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi (among his most famous works there is the Parc de la Villette in Paris) in Italy. Commissioned by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno and Comune di Grottammare, the work was born with the objective of facilitating the identification of the territory. The project, whose inauguration is scheduled for 2016, is a future landmark for the city of Grottammare, a generator of ideas for the territory, both in its physical size and in its creative potential. Including in an area at the edge of the urban fabric between the sea and the hills, the new work is characterized by a high degree of flexibility; its spaces are configurable on event function.

The name, ANIMA, comes from an acronym: A as Art, N as Nature, I like Ideas, M as Music, A like Action. They are the “five souls” of the project the architect has interpreted as an identity in the making. The work will be a catalyst for interest, interactions, synergies. The surface where architecture is placed coincides with that of the small medieval town of Grottammare, slightly more than 7,000 square meters. The project approaches the historical heart of the town not only in size: it recalls, both outside and inside, the “urbs” concept. Outside the ANIMA looks like a compact body, a perfect square that, if somewhat alludes to an idea of closure and protection, it breaks and immediately shows a high permeability.

A reflection on the theme of the façade is the basis of the research that led Bernard Tschumi in a workaround for large vertical walls that surround the building and that finds its strongest expression in the south wall, through which you access the complex. Once in the square body you find yourself immersed in a split, partly inside and partly outside.

The architect explains the project: The complexity of this space is determined by the rotation of a large cuboid volume that occupies the central area of the building and contains the main hall, with seating for 1,500, flexible and configurable based on capacity needs variables. The rotation of this volume determines a system of four large courtyards, to each of which the main hall has a chance to open up a fluid and dynamic system of visual and physical paths. In addition, an extensive system of ramps allows moving within this heterogeneous environment and mobile, observing from prospects and continuously variable heights. Adjacent to the main hall and linked spectacularly through a multiplicity of paths, there are willing share laboratories, offices, café-restaurant, ancillary spaces. Can you design a façade without recourse to a formal composition? Can you do so is neither figurative nor abstract but, so to speak, without form? At a time of economic crisis, indulge in formal geometry produced by complex volumetric curves didn’t seem to be a responsible choice. The era of the so-called 'iconismo' seems to be finished, as arbitrary sculptural figures of the recent past ".

"Rather than adding a new province and iconic sculptural shape, we decided to investigate interaction, simplicity and sobriety. The internal organization of space was socially and culturally important, but that the external image of the project was equally significant. For this reason we have designed a simple square plan with four façades and a fifth façade, as equivalent coverage. Each façade has its own vocabulary, allowing to address issues such as protection from the Sun, natural lighting and ventilation at the same time project a strong identity to the outside world.

Edoardo Croci

The Metaphone® is the contemporary keystone of the whole project, embodying the site’s new musical and acoustic role. An architecture of materials, sound and light, it is the emblematic space of 9 – 9bis: a building to be looked at and listened to, an immense instrument played by musicians who are alternately invisible or in the limelight. The musical flow of the site strikes its walls and makes them sing. And like music, it evolves in time, in the passing of time: it is transformed into harmonies of sound and colour, fluid, fleeting, but constantly renewed, which will become the spirit of the place.

The Metaphone® is both concert hall and “urban musical instrument”, whose walls produce and diffuse sounds, in harmony with the play of light. The concert hall and its annexes (technical rooms and audience boxes) are contained within a volume of black concrete, itself wrapped in a light skin made of scales of different materials: ground glass, steel, wood... This scaly skin extends outwards and opens above the concourse, forming a great porch protecting the entrance and terrace. Between the concrete mass and the scaly skin, attached to a metallic structure, technical walkways are provided for installing and maintaining the sound and lighting equipment. On the roof, the lattice of scales extends into a sheet of integrated photovoltaic cells. The instrumental elements are made up of plates of different materials, whose acoustic properties have been calculated to produce musical sound. There are two principles of sound production: mechanical or electroacoustic, with vibrating bowls mounted on the plates to form loudspeaker membranes (this technique is commonly used in the car industry). These systems have been developed and tested by making a prototype of the musical facade, composed of 8 modules measuring 1.2 m, half fitted with an acoustic instrument, the other half with vibrating plates.

What can be composed with such an instrument? Obviously, it is not a tool for producing special effects. On the contrary, the aim is to give a totally and resolutely musical shape to a concert hall built on a site dedicated to music. Undoubtably unique. The principles of composition include factors relating to architectural space, materials and light. Factors relating to environment and use, to maintenance and cost... One can only imagine the variety of timbres that can be produced. In addition, the dimensions of the hall offer a playing area great enough for an orchestra bigger than Berlioz himself could ever have dreamed of. It is an exceptional space which will make it possible to invent musical forms commensurate with the architecture. Composers from all over the world will be invited to create works for this auditorium. This is how the originality and power of the project will be maintained.

For the public, the Metaphone® is likely to be a “curiosity”. People will come to Oignies to see and hear it. It will serve as a secular bell, marking the hours, midday or sunset. It will signal the beginning of a concert or the interval, produce a peripheral sound space, discreet so as not to inconvenience the neighbours … It could also be used as an instrument in an orchestral composition, with the musicians playing beneath the porch.

(Fabiana Cambiaso, Università La Sapienza) Credits: www.herault-arnod.fr Figures: © André Morin; © Marie Clérin   Concert Hall, Oignies (Pas-de-Calais), France Hérault Arnod Architectes Site: 1 980 m² Completed: 2013 Materials: Frosted Glass, Wood, Corten Steel Applications: Envelope  

11 October 2018

Everyone feels responsible for the ecological changes our planet is undergoing in recent decades. We are increasingly sensitized to this issue. The new houses are all in energy class A, but many now are opting for passive house, i.e. without heating and cooling systems, but only powered by renewable energy sources. A 185 square meters detached, in Bollate (Milan), has recently been made passive standard, but with a "Mediterranean" style: it bears the signature of BLM Domus. Characterized by modern architecture that remains in shades of white and grey, the house has a technological heart that beats inside the wooden structure, very resistant material with thermal and physical quality aseismic recognized that vouches for the thermal and acoustic insulation. The house has three floors, from the basement where there is the tavern with fireplace, a bathroom and a laundry with technical installations. The ground floor is divided into living area, rooms and facilities, all in an airy. There is a steel and wood staircase leading to the upstairs rooms. In this house all the free heat are maxed out, produced by a household appliance in operation, from the people who live in the house or from the sun. A plant in air-water heat pump is responsible for heating in winter but also of lower temperatures in summer. Where does the PassivHaus come from? The idea comes from Germany and it is a solution designed to provide thermal comfort without traditional plants. It is called "passive" because heat inputs are passive, i.e. due to sun and heat generated from household appliances and by tenants themselves. To be called "passive", an house must comply with the parameters of the standard defined by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt in Germany, a region where temperatures are colder on average. For this reason we speak now of " Mediterranean passive": in Italy there is a mildest climate, so technological facilities are dimensioned according to the place and the surrounding environment, to avoid wasting energy. “We are proud of this project and happy with the result” – says Marco Bevilacqua, technical director of BLM Domus – “The house in Bollate is proof that “passive house” is no longer a concept for a small 'elite' environmental fanatics. Thanks to our experience, together with the adoption of cutting-edge methodologies, we have been able to build a passive house with a financial investment comparable to that of a class A building.”

Carlo Bardelli