13 Jenuary 2019

The purpose of the Design Hub is to provide accommodation in one building for a diverse range of design research and post graduate education. The Hub provides a collegial research base where post graduates in fields such as fabric and fashion design will work alongside those involved in architecture, aeronautical engineering, industrial design, landscape architecture, urban design and so on.

Research groups have the ability to locate and fine tune their accommodation within ‘warehouses’ – open plan spaces where research teams can set up and tailor their work environment to suit their particular needs. Teams may stay for anywhere from six months to three years depending on the nature of and funding limits to their research and education programs. Research may include the need for workshops to make physical models to be located alongside computer studios, three dimensional printing, virtual reality modelling and so on. Given the time frames associated with research projects all the warehouses require a high level of adaptability and flexibility. In that sense these spaces are designed to accommodate the organic nature of research – ever evolving, adapting, changing and growing. The plan of the Hub acknowledges the desire for incidental cross pollination where researchers from one field encounter those from completely unrelated other fields as part of their day to day use of the building. An exhibition space and design archive provide a public interface with both industry and research outcomes. These spaces combined with a variety of lecture, seminar and multi purpose rooms facilitate high level exchanges in a number of forums.

The Hub has a large number of ESD features and incorporates strategies of water, waste and recycling management that are the equal of any ESD focussed building on the planet. In particular the outer skin of the Hub incorporates automated sunshading that includes photovoltaic cells, evaporative cooling and fresh air intakes that improve the internal air quality and reduce running costs. The cells have been designed so that they can be easily replaced as research into solar energyresults in improved technology and part of the northern façade is actually dedicated to ongoing research into solar cells to be conducted jointly by industry and RMIT. The entire building façade, in other words, has the capacity to be upgraded as solar technology evolves and may one day generate enough electricity to run the whole building. The façade comprises a specifically detailed double glazed inner skin on each face of the building and an automated operable second skin shading device. The second skin shading device surrounds the entire building, from the ground floor to the roof plant level. It is made up of nominally 600 mm diameter sandblasted glass disks, which are fixed to either a horizontal or vertical aluminium axel. Each axel is fixed to the outer face of a galvanised steel cylinder of a slightly greater diameter and nominally 130 mm in depth. 21 glass discs and steel cylinders are fixed together in panels of nominally 1.8 m by 4.2 m, which are supported on a secondary galvanised steel frame set out about 700 mm from the curtain wall face of the building. These are accessed by an external service walkway on each level.

Each typical panel is made up of 12 operable glass discs and 9 discs which are fixed. At the ground and plant room levels all glass disks will be fixed. There are 86 panels on each level and therefore 774 panels for the nine levels of the building. Perimeter air intakes and fine mist sprinklers incorporated into the double glazed inner skin provide passive cooling to the UFAD system. The water used in this ‘Coolgardie safe’ system is harvested from the roof. Fresh naturally cooled air provides a less expensive, lower energy consumption and more desirable thermal comfort alternative to a wholly conditioned work environment.   Credits: www.seangodsell.com RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, by Sean Godsell Material: Frosted glass,  Low-E insulating glass, steel profiles and galvanized steel Application: Envelope Area: 13,000 sqm Completed: 2012 Figures: © Earl Carter (Fabiana Cambiaso – Università La Sapienza Roma).

Marco Mignatti

26 January 2019

Energy efficiency, low construction costs, quicker completion rate, recycled and recyclable materials, long-lasting finishings and furnishings, green areas and public services seem to be the main features of housing models with a strong social dimension. And the Tor Vergata Campus in Rome is an excellent example. Social housing has ‘contaminated’ the university. This summer the last of the 550 residences for students, professors and researchers of the Tor Vergata University in Rome were handed over. The many Italian companies involved in the project include Spagnol Group for the “turnkey” furniture of the residences, Marazzi for the indoor flooring, Mirage for outdoor flooring, iGuzzini for internal and external lighting, Estel for the auditorium’s furnishings. Headed by architect Marco Tamino and realized by Ingenium RE, the project features a total of 1,500 residences distributed over 17 units with services and common areas for dining and leisure organized around a 5-hectare park. Designed as a place for study, dialogue and discussion, the complex is geared toward energy saving, eco sustainability, low construction costs and social awareness. (Fabiana Cambiaso Università La Sapienza)

Edoardo Croci

Pop.for.Pav is the winning project of MonaLisa Digital Workshop at Politecnico of Turin. A research aimed at creating an architecture aimed at enhancement of poplar plywood: nature becomes architecture. Designed by nine students, MonaLisa Pavillion is a forest structure characterized by a regular trees scan consisting of elements in poplar plywood floors. The project was created with the intent to recreate the natural environment of the nursery. In the initial phase, project’s development goes on in a two-dimensional way, because it represents initial growth of the stem of the tree. As it progresses, however, the elements are also developed in three dimensions through curved items, so they can give shape to the hair. These were generated through a branching story elements and are arranged in an ascending sequence that determines an architecture capable of illustrating the features and versatility of the material with which it was achieved.

A natural, durable and flexible material. The tour invites users to explore a space defined by twenty-two trees whose canopies enact the voltage generated on poplar veneer process at the origin of plywood production. The suggestion to penetrate between the branches of a Poplar Grove is evoked by the changing interaction between the material, users movement, light, sound and shadows that filter from the housing. The MonaLisa Pavillion was presented at Made Expo. The initiative was promoted by the Department of architecture and Design at the Politecnico of Turin and by technical Committee PioppOk of Conlegno, in collaboration with Assopannelli-Federlegno-Arredo and Pro-Populus. International educational experiences of the AA School in London, of the University of Stuttgart, Aalto University School of Arts and Columbia University have been important.   Credits Roberto Cortese www.woodlab.polito.it www.conlegno.eu Credits by WoodLab Politecnico Torin

28 October 2018

The AquiliAlberg architecture studio has finished a new residential project in Cremona. The typology is that of tract housing, but it has been manipulated and reinterpreted by the Milan-based studio to respond to the characteristics of the site and the context, a nature park on the Serio River. The project is located on an area of about 1000 sq meters and contains six apartments with two above-ground levels. The first level is raised to guarantee privacy and to provide better views of the beautiful natural setting. The design idea took form as a result of careful study of the residential typology and the general quality of space, orientation and relation to the surroundings. The fundamental goal of the research – to establish a dialogue between architecture and landscape – implies a combination of artificial and natural elements to achieve high levels of habitat quality. Large private external loggias add otherwise precluded space to the units, while at the same time enhancing the indoor-outdoor relationship, taking maximum advantage of the splendid views of the nature park.

Carlo Bardelli

25 October 2018

Taking historic urban models and revising them in the light of new technology to deliver new residential developments with the depth, complexity and quality of the urban fabric we treasure: this was the objective underpinning the Contrà Leopardi project, a new housing estate at Olmi on the outskirts of Treviso, in north-east Italy. Built by main contractor CEV on the perimeter of the little town, the new development faces onto farmland. To avoid the trap of being yet another anonymous cluster of new houses, Studio Semerano architects focused not only on the architecture of the individual buildings - using materials and technologies to ensure occupant comfort and energy savings - but also on the programme as a whole. The aim: to make a valid addition to the town, a quarter in which to live, grow up and socialize. The sense of a compact neighbourhood is given by the consistent urban scheme. This is offset by several unique architectures that deliberately interrupt the spatial continuum creating different surfaces and an interesting interplay of light and shadow. Pedestrian-friendly, the neighbourhood’s communication routes are never straight. Bends and turns offer captivating views of the surroundings. The programme comprises 15 residential blocks for a total of 36 dwelling units, which has received the Ecolabel in Class B. Most are distributed over two storeys. Each has either a garden or terrace. These outdoor areas offer the same privacy as the enclosed gardens lying behind the canal walls of nearby Venice. They are places where the family can eat, play, take the sun or grow vegetables. Great care has also been taken to ensure every house has a view: either of porticos, one of the little squares, walls, trees, architectural features or the countryside beyond. In addition, the blocks have been oriented to receive optimal natural lighting and sunlight. Materials were chosen with neighbourhood identity and environmental requirements in mind. Nigra Padoana, a natural hydraulic lime-plaster, formulated following an historical mix, was used throughout. Used down the ages in the Veneto region, lime-plaster has been applied to the brickwork of houses and gardens to create a uniform setting against which to place open-work wood and iron structures that served as sun protection or for climbing plants. Similarly traditional are the types of trees planted in the public areas. They create small shaded squares while climbing plants become walls of greenery. (Fabiana Cambiaso - Università La Sapienza, Roma) Credits: www.contraleopardi.it www.semerano.com Figures: © Carlo Carossio; © Toti Semeraro   Contrà Leopardi, Olmi di S. Biagio di Callalta, Treviso Toti Semerano Architect Site: 4.100 mq Built-up area: 1.800 mq Completed: 2009 Materials: Brick, Natural hydraulic lime plaster, Iroko wood, Perforated sheet metal, Steel Applications: Envelope, Shields, Sunshade.

Marco Mignatti

08 January 2019

An outer shell to protect the precious contents within: that's the goal of the façade of the Library at the Folkwang University in Essen, Academy of music and art in the region of Rhine North-Westphalia. A particular crystal structure features one side of the building. The exterior consists of glass panels with an impressive optical effect: thanks to the use of a special photographic technique applied to glass, viewers live in the illusion of being in front of a stone material. These images depict the rough stone in its original size. In this way you can see the shadows of those beyond the façade and natural light is filtered inside the library. At night, the building also illuminates the outer space. The façade is attached to the bearing structure of reinforced concrete building with a vertical system. The concrete pillars were sized and positioned according to the proportions of internal racks, where library’s volumes are housed. The cherry wood used for shelves and furniture was used for the coating of the pillars also, but not everyone is designed as carriers: inside the cavity of some, there are the piping of air-conditioning systems. The building was designed by architect Max Dudler, in collaboration with photographer Stefan Müller. The Folkwang University is a charming building, housed inside the old Benedictine monastery of St. Ludgerus.   www.maxdudler.com

Edoardo Croci

10/10/2018

The Paper Cathedral has been inaugurated, the church made of cardboard and designed in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The designer is Shigeru Ban, Japanese, known worldwide and called "the paper architect". He is famous for his innovative projects, made with cardboard tubes that become pillars, beams, wall. Houses, museums, lightweight and sustainable buildings, strong and durable collection. When he plans design, he works with natural glues, recycled paper around aluminum tubes; once dried, the paper slips off pipe and columns are treated with wax to be waterproofed. Ecofriendly design style, and fast too.

A new way of designing, increasingly sought emergency areas. Ban has made economic and rapid housing for earthquake victims in Kobe. Almost twenty years later, the Japanese architect has designed in New Zealand, a cardboard temporary church, replacing the damaged safe.

www.shigerubanarchitects.com  

Marco Mignatti

01 October 2018

A new architecture in Imola’s skyline. A cube designed with targeted policies to reduce the energy demand to improve comfort. This is an idea signed by A2 Studio Gasparri and Ricci Bitti Architetti Associati, which translates into a careful design of the exterior and an accurate choice of materials.

The facades to the East and North were entirely made out of glass on a steel frame. They allow maximum exploitation of solar radiation in the early hours of the morning without bothering with a bright light indoors. The two most elaborate facades are South and Southwest: they have not only an aesthetic function. It's a wrap created from a masonry almost devoid of views and a second skin in extra clear screenprinted glass panels that protect the most sun and wind exposed sides. Between the two layers, there is a cavity of about 80 cm, where the air circulates in a natural way, and it helps cool the surface in summer and retain warmth in winter.

The project focuses on transparency, opting for full-height windows and creating inside rooms separated by glass, so as to generate a visual continuum between the halls. An architecture that from afar evokes an ice cube from the many reflections of light, as you approach the eye is drawn to the complexity of the details, such as the relief surface, geometric motifs that recur in seemingly random fashion. At night the transparency is accentuated by the lighting design which makes the cube even more.

Cold items such as glass, white, soft light contrast with hot elements and materials: the red door, the use of stone, greenwood, external, internal dark wood. A game of elements that gives character and dynamism to building.

Marco Mignatti