Wood, through metal, explores new design expressions that address the theme of the reflection of light: this is the approach behind Silver Rail, the latest proposal from ALPI, the first company in the world to industrialize the process of reconstituted wood, and now an unchallenged technological reference point in the wood sector. Silver Rail is the result of intensive R&D activity – a true characteristic of the company’s DNA – that has allowed ALPI to develop materials conceived to interact with light, confirming its role as a professional partner and its outstanding ability to interpret and foresee market trends with solutions that are increasingly sophisticated in both aesthetic and technological terms, capable of giving concrete form to any idea from its spheres of reference: large luxury brands, giants in the automotive and nautical sectors, prestigious furniture makers, and the fields of product design, interior architecture and contract. Decorative wooden surfaces crossed by metal lines that reflect light: Silver Rail is a material with a modern design - applicable to finished products or horizontal and vertical surfaces - combining the softness and warmth of wood with the glow and rigor of metal. An innovative offering, the result of sophisticated technology and the careful, tailor-made workmanship typical of ALPI; a synthesis of two apparently antithetical materials, conceived to respond to the emerging trend towards luminosity in interior decorating, in the year UNESCO has proclaimed as that of light and light-based technologies.   Silver Rail lends itself to infinite possibilities of personalization: from the choice of color and design from the vast range of ALPI woods to the indication of the number and the spaces between the metal lines, which can be governed by regular, precise geometric patterns or designed with more sinuous shapes. With proper lighting, the material offers intriguing luminous effects that add character to rooms and enhance the design of objects and furnishings. Silver Rail is available in the ALPIlignum and ALPIkord versions:   ALPIlignum This product is the company’s cornerstone: the true symbol of the ALPI universe, the finest expression of its R&D activities and the perfect blend of technological innovation and artisan know-how. A line of woods that offers unlimited aesthetic variety and personalization: reproducing the colors and grain of natural materials (over 120 types in the catalogue) or creating Design Wood with unusual chromatic effects, allowing for maximum creativity. ALPIlignum is a sliced wood that can be applied to any surface and produced in different thicknesses depending on the application. It is therefore an extremely versatile product, capable of responding to all project needs in functional and aesthetic terms. Its particular production process involves peeling logs (of Poplar, Lime Wood or Ayous), always of certified origin, to make sheets that are immersion dyed and "reassembled" by stacking the layers of dyed wood to make a “new log”. The absence of the typical defects of traditional wood, the uniformity and reproducibility of colors and sizes make it ideal for rapid implementation of single production runs or series. ALPIkord The line of prefinished woods treated with state-of-the-art products and varnishes to bring out the natural beauty of the entire ALPIlignum range, applied on a surface and then varnished. The result is a large wooden panel ready for application to any surface, to reduce the time needed for working, varnishing and installation. The practicality of ALPIkord finishes is joined by high levels of quality, unique design and customization, as well as the environmental certifications pertaining to ALPIlignum. By request, FSC certification, the most important international guarantee of its kind of the sustainable origin of our wood, is also available for ALPIkord. ALPI, wood&more: Italian roots for international excellence An absolute leader in the production of decorative surfaces in multilaminar wood, ALPI was the first company in the world to industrialize the manufacturing process for reconstituted wood, setting new qualitative standards. The perfect balance between manual skills and high technology make the firm unique. On the one hand, ALPI is pure innovation, ahead of the demands of the market; on the other, it represents painstaking craftsmanship. An example of excellence that thanks to the depth of its collections – applicable to finished products and horizontal or vertical surfaces – combined with the ability to design bespoke solutions, is an unchallenged technological reference point for the wood sector. A professional partner of leading luxury brands and major manufacturers of automobiles and yachts, as well as prestigious names in furniture, product design, interior architecture and 360° contract, ranging from hôtellerie to multi-apartment developments, retailing to offices to public spaces. What sets ALPI apart on the worldwide scene is its direct control of the entire process, from the log to the finished product, starting with forest management using chain-of-custody certification to guarantee the legal and sustainable sourcing of the wood and total product traceability. ALPI is therefore a guarantee of an eco-responsible, versatile design product, made possible by major investments in R&D, raw materials of the highest quality, avant-garde technology and the finest tailor-made craftsmanship. Other important features of the firm are its vast range of offerings and great ability to respond to the specific requirements of a highly diversified client base, also through the design and development of custom lines and one-off collections. Today ALPI – helmed by Vittorio Alpi, the founder’s grandson – has industrial facilities of 180,000 sq. meters (52,000 indoors) in Italy, and 346,500 sq. meters (over 67,000 indoors) in Africa, for a production capacity of over 30 million square meters per year, with capillary distribution networks in over 60 countries. The firm stands out for reliability and solidity, based on sales growth that surpassed the level of 130 million euros in 2014.     www.alpi.it

 

04 February 2019

Italian architects Onsitestudio have completed the Milan headquarters of an electrical product manufacturer, wrapped in profiled steel. The main purpose of the project is the overall reorganisation of an area used for the production of electrical converters, located in an industrial compound along the Cassanese state highway, east of Milan. The main idea is to define the boundaries of the production site by building a continuous wall to create a feeling of an enclosed urban block. The building “thickens” this wall near the angle, separating the internal space from the external one, with an internal garden and public spaces along the street . The project foresees research spaces on the ground floor, withdrawn and facing the internal garden and offices on the second floor. The volume folds around the angle and stretches out with two bodies, characterized by a continuous glass façade: the first body, facing the birch garden, is designed to be used for directors’ offices, while the second one, facing the street, will be used for the operating offices. On the far west side, in direction of the state road, the volume becomes a vertical body, with the tower hosting the technical stations. The metal skin, constituted by shaped and drilled sheet metal in opaque stainless steel, envelopes the building entirely like a curtain, thus conferring to the volume a balanced character, where the opaque and transparent portions are ambiguously defined. The skin filters the light into the building at different opening degrees, depending on the exposure to the sun and the degree of intimacy desired in the interior. The facades are completely defined by a metallic skin composed of opaque stainless steel shaped, perforated and stretched sheeting. The steel selected for this project is stainless AISI 304, with a 2 mm thickness and 4 to 4.5 m high sheets. The texture of the metallic elements has been developed in several phases trying to use common industrial elements, such as folded and perforated sheets, to then achieve a bespoke solution to follow the concept of a cladding whose variety can be shown at different levels, both in plan and elevation. In correspondence of the glazed elements the metallic cladding continues and maintains its shape, but it is perforated. The presence of many small oval holes allows the metallic skin to filter the light with various grades of opening in relation to the sun exposure and the level of intimacy of the internal spaces. Only the entrance which is characterised by zenithal light. The sensation for those who are inside is of an intimate and reserved environment with relaxing views over the green of the internal garden. The choice of the metallic cladding, as well as for the rest of the construction executed with the assembly of prefabricated elements (iron profiles for the structures and plasterboard panels for the partitions), has been dictated by the desire of slimming down and simplify the construction phase, while speeding up the phases, reducing the storage space for materials on site and improving the quality of the finished product. The building is designed to meet the class A energy efficiency requirements of CENED. The metal covering  has been designed to be covered with photovoltaic panels in amorphous silica. Energy efficiency is achieved through several strategies: a high performance covering system for both opaque and transparent portions, external shielding systems against solar radiation, internal curtains, technical systems based on heat pumps, he recovery of rain water for irrigation and high performance double glazing. Stratigraphy is organised as follows: a sandwich panel in wood and mineral wool with a thickness of 150 mm, coupled on the outside with a transpiring, watertight and UV resistant membrane, and completed on the inside by an insulated wall lining in plaster with 3 plates. (Fabiana Cambiaso) Credits: Onsitestudio Architects Friem Headquarters, Segrate (Milan, Italy) Building Surface: 2100 mq Opening: 2010 Materials: Steel, Wood and Mineral Wool Applications: Envelope Cladding, Solar Shading, Sandwich Panel www.onsitestudio.it Figures: © Filippo Romano; © Onsitestudio; © Helene Binet.

Carlo Bardelli

Choosing concrete as material for a luxury residence. The young Mexican architect Abraham Cherem (Cherem Arquitectos) recently completed the project of a residence on the outskirts of Mexico City, built for a well-known local football player. The project is based on the study of the views of the house and the movement of the light on the inside. The architect has two overlapped blocks of concrete, creating a complex set of rectangles and curved walls. The goal is to minimize the outskirts views of the metropolis, by focusing our gaze on the large patio. The 44 cm thick walls alternate with smooth walls in corrugated surfaces. Inside, the walls are conceived as concrete curtains, regulating spaces and the entry of light at different times of day. Abraham CheremThe use of concrete is inspired by the work of Brazilian architects Lina Bo Bardi and Oscar Niemayer

At the end of the 33rd edition, Cersaie is confirmed as a focal point for global business development for bathroom products (but not only) and an important meeting point for international trade. A lot of foreign visitors (coming from more than 150 different nations) joined it. The numbers speak for themselves: if the exhibitors are less than last edition, 872 against 945 of 2014 (but this year there is a new foreign presence, Sweden), the number of visitors grows. The new edition, in fact, recorded a total attendance of 101,809 presences, with an increase of 0.8% compared to 100,985 visitors last year. The Italian presence remains stable, while the foreign one is growing: there has been an increase in 1632 participants compared to 2014, for a total of 48231 visitors. More Italian journalists than last year(+27.4%), due to the international press conference organized for the first time at the Palazzo Ducale of Sassuolo. High is the number of foreign journastists, too (257 partecipants). A success under the banner of internationalism. Another keyword is "representativity": we remind the high presence of exhibitors of other areas, especially wood, marble and natural stones. Cersaie is a milestone in architecture and interior design. The Lectio Magistralis held by Glenn Murcutt, Pritzker Award seventh consecutive at Cersaie, had a great success, as well as the installation “Day Off” by Diego Grandi and “Cers Style” exhibition by Angelo Dall'Aglio and Daniele Vercelli. The “works in progress” and “La Città della Posa” (the place dedicated to the training of young talent and to the presentation of different techniques) meetings were very popular. Many consumers have joined “Cersaie designs your home”, especially with the presence of Paola Marella, also godmother of the event #selfeet. It has been a positive debut for Bologna Design Week that has seen a steady influx of people and that organized cultural events in the evening in prestigious locations in the city.

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