WE ARE ARCHITECTS, THINKERS, ENGINEERS AND DESIGNERS.
WE BELIEVE THAT ARCHITECTURE SHAPES THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITIES. WE DRAW ENERGY FROM CONTEXTUAL DATA TO GENERATE RESILIENT ECOSYSTEMS WHERE PEOPLE CAN LIVE, WORK AND THRIVE.
WE JOIN FORCES WITH EXPERT FROM DIVERSE FIELDS, TO DELIVER SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS FOR FORWARD THINKING CLIENTS.
a-fact _ DATA SUPPORTED BEAUTY
MET Tirana Building, Mario Cucinella Architects, Tirana, 2017
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
Centro arti e scienze Fondazione Golinelli, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Bologna, 2016
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
Fondazione Luigi Rovati, Museo Etrusco, Mario Cucinella Architects, Milano, 2016
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
Nuovo ponte Sant’Antioco, Mario Cucinella Architects, Sant’Antioco, 2017
Nuovo Rettorato Università Roma 3, Mario Cucinella Architects, Roma, 2017
Padiglione Italia, 16 Mostra Internazionale di Architettura, Mario Cucinella Architects, Venezia, 2018
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
NICE Headquarters, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Limeira, Brazil, 2020
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
Unipol Sai Headquarters, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Milano, 2020
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
Ferrari S.p.A. factory extension, SMCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Maranello, 2022
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
BBS-Bologna Business School New Campus, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Bologna, 2021
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
MIND Milano Innovation District, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Milano, 2022
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
Iperceramica Headquarters, MCA-Mario Cucinella Architects, Fiorano Modenese, 2021
© 2022 Mario Cucinella Architects
LSE Paul Marshall Building, Grafton Architects, London, 2017
UAE Pavilion at EXPO2020, Santiago Calatrava Architects&Engineers, Dubai, 2016
LSE Centre Building Redevelopment, RSHP, London, 2015
© 2022 Grafton Architects
©2022 Santiago Calatrava
© 2022 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
London’s greenwich peninsula, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, London, 2017
© 2022 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Manhattan Loft Gardens, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, London, 2019
Nine Elms Square, N8 tower, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, London, 2022
Zurich Airport Extension Competition, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Zurich, 2020
© 2022 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill © 2022 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
© 2022 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Andrea Rossi is an architect specialised in integrated environmental design, adaptive architecture and low energy masterplans and buildings with more than 10 years of experience in Italy, UK, Middle East and South America.
He graduated in Architecture at Polytechnic University of Turin, after one year at KTH Royal Institute on Technologies in Stockholm. In 2015 Andrea graduated as MArch in Sustainable Environmental Design at the Architectural Association School of Architecture with the dissertation project ‘Migrant centre and primary school in Lampedusa’, winner of the Best Poster Award at PLEA 2015 Architecture in (R)evolution. From 2015 to 2017 Andrea worked at ChapmanBDSP environmental engineering company, contributing to the design and the delivery of worldclass projects among which the LSE Paul Marshall Building (London, UK) by Grafton Architects, The Tower DCH (Dubai,UAE) by Calatrava A&E and D3 Dubai Design District (Dubai, UAE) Foster+Partners. From 2017 to 2022 Andrea worked at MC A - Mario Cucinella Architects as Project Director, delivering many projects among which MIND - Milan Innovation District (Milan, IT), Santa Giulia District (Milan, IT), Nice Headquarters (Limeira, BRA) and BBS Bologna Business School campus (Bologna, IT). In 2022, together with Giovanni Sanna and Pierluigi Turco, Andrea founded a-fact architecture factory to continue developing and building complex, innovative and international architectural and masterplan projects. Andrea is Visiting Lecturer at S.O.S School of Sustainability, Polytechnic University of Milan and Turin and many other international universities.
• LSE Paul Marshall Building - Londra (UK) (2016)
• UNIPOL Headquarters - Milano (IT) (2017)
• Nice Headquarters - Limeira (BRA) (2020)
• BBS Bologna Business School campus - Bologna (IT) (2020)
• MIND Milan Innovation District - Milano (IT) (2021)
• Milano Santa Giulia District - Milano (IT) (2022)
• Ferrari spa - Maranello (IT) (2022)
• Port of Palermo Waterfront - Palermo (IT) (2022)
• Villa Bianca Residential Development - Roma (IT) (2023)
“OUR CULTURE ENCOURAGES US TO DELVE INTO THE REALM OF ‘ FACTUAL SUSTAINABILITY ,’ EMBRACING COMPLEXITY AND APPROACHING SUSTAINABLE DESIGN WITH A CRITICAL EYE, STEERING CLEAR OF SLOGANS AND OVERSIMPLIFICATION .”
Giovanni Sanna Architect, MArch Design Partner
Giovanni Sanna is an architect specialised in integrated design, from the initial concept stages to construction and handover with more than 10 years in Italy and Middle East. He graduated in Architecture at both Architecture Faculty of Cagliari and IUAV in Venice. In 2015 Giovanni graduated as MArch in BEAMSustainable Construction Processes at the IUAV University of Venice, winning the first prize at the BEAM competition with the project “Factory reuse: a new gateway for the walls of Padova”.
From 2013 to 2015 Giovanni worked at Enrico Botta Architecture in Manama Bahrain participating to multiple international design competitions for new masterplan, schools, universities and museums among which the VIP Women’s Museum in Dubai.
From 2015 to 2022 Giovanni worked at MC A - Mario Cucinella Architects as Design Leader, working on a large number of projects and spanning from concept to completion. In particular he worked on Fondazione Golinelli Pavilion (Bologna, IT), Roma 3 University new rectorate (Rome, IT), MET mixed-use Tirana Building (Tirana, ALB), Ekspozita Building (Tirana, ALB), the Italian Pavilion for the 16th Architectural Biennale (Venice, IT), the Rovati Etruscan Art Museum (Milan, IT).
In 2022, together with Andrea Rossi and Pierluigi Turco, Giovanni founded a-fact architecture factory to continue developing and building complex, innovative and international architectural and masterplan projects.
• Fondazione Golinelli Pavilion - Bologna (IT)
• Nuova Sede del Rettorato dell’Università Roma Tre - Roma (IT)
• MET Tirana Building - Tirana (ALB)
• Ekspozita Building - Tirana (ALB)
• Padiglione Italia alla Biennale Architettura 2018 - Venezia (IT)
• Fondazione Luigi Rovati Museum - Milano (IT)
• Port of Palermo Waterfront - Palermo (IT) (2022)
• Villa Bianca Residential Development - Roma (IT) (2023)
“WE ARE CONSCIOUS OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY - AS ARCHITECT - TO IMAGINE AND SHAPE FLEXIBILE CITIES, BUILDINGS AND SPACES ABLE TO HOUSE A THRIVING FUTURE AND ITS POSSIBLE EVOLUTIONS .”
Pierluigi Turco is a qualified architect with more than 10 years of experience practicing in Italy, the UK, and the Middle East. Having studied in Palermo (Unipa), Vilnius (VGTU), and Paris (ENSAPM), he then moved to London, where he acquired a MArch in Sustainable Environmental Design from the Architectural Association School of Architecture. After graduation, Pierluigi worked at SOM in London as an Associate designer where he was engaged in large-scale projects at stages of construction and concept design as well as competitions. Having acquired a solid education in sustainable design, he was also involved in the HPD (High-Performance Design) group and in the Sustainability group of SOM. In 2019, Pierluigi moved to Kuwait for a position as a lead designer at PACE-architecture engineering and planning. Training and mentoring younger architects were very important parts of his role. Leading a studio on a variety of educational and cultural projects including PAHW 3 Schools, winning the proposal of a competition for the design of 3 prototypes of schools for the Kuwait government, awarded “Best future project” by AIA Middle East.
In 2022, together with Giovanni Sanna and Andrea Rossi, Pierluigi founded a-fact architecture factory to continue developing and building complex, innovative and international architectural and masterplan projects. Pierluigi is the currently the head of a-fact London office, opened in 2023. Registered as an architect in the UK and as Engineer in Italy, Pierluigi is also often invited as Visiting Lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Milan School of Architecture, at the Architectural Association of London, and at UCL School of architecture in London.
Main Projects
• SAID Business School Competition Oxford (UK)
• Greenwich Peninsula, London (UK)
• Manhattan Loft Garden, London (UK)
• Neom City airport competition, Neom (KSA)
• Neom Bay airport Competition, Neom (KSA)
• Zurich Airport Expansion Competition, Zurich (SWI)
• Port of Palermo Waterfront - Palermo (IT) (2022)
• Villa Bianca Residential Development - Roma (IT) (2023)
“COLLECTING, PROCESSING AND TRANSFORMING CONTEXTUAL DATA INTO INTEGRATED ARCHITECTURAL IDEAS MEANS TO DESIGN ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS, TACKLING ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMICAL AND SOCIAL CHALLENGES TOWARDS A MORE FACTUAL PARADIGM OF CIRCULARITY AND A RENEWED HARMONY WITH NATURE .”
residential, mixed-use
status: under construction
size: 15,000 m2
cost: conf.
client: GreenStone
location: Roma (IT)
year: 2023
The design concept of Podium aims to revitalize a unique park area in Rome Municipio II, blending it seamlessly with the city’s urban fabric. It creates an organic, unified space that smoothly connects public and private areas. This project is deeply influenced by its surroundings, responding to urban, natural, and modern living trends. It integrates sustainable practices and focuses on environmental efficiency, aiming to achieve LEED certification. The architectural design prioritizes quality views and abundant natural light for residential units. The innovative facade system allows for flexible floorplan configurations without altering the building’s envelope. Podium embodies a fusion of design and construction, reimagining traditional Roman architecture for contemporary urban living. It represents an integrated urban space for modern city living.
“ REINTERPRETING THE TYPOLOGY OF THE PALAZZINA ROMANA , THE COMPLEX FEATURES GENEROUS PRIVATE AMENITIES SPACES BLURRING THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE PARK AND THE APARTMENT “
Between land and sea hospitality, urban design
status: in design
size: 12,500 m2
cost: € 35 mln
client: confidential location: Palermo (IT)
year: 2022
The Port of Palermo is transforming from an industrial center into a vibrant tourist destination, seamlessly connecting with the city through its waterfront. A new hotel and congress center serve as catalysts for this change, located near historic bastions, a water basin, and a waterfront park.
To enhance urban accessibility, one building is demolished while the concrete storage is repurposed, creating a central plaza seamlessly linked to the waterfront and adjacent park. The plaza hosts the new congress center, an organic landmark accommodating 1,000 people.
The existing concrete storage is transformed into the hotel, featuring green patios for scenic views in all rooms, restaurants, and the rooftop club. The ground floor integrates into the city with a welcoming lobby, retail spaces, and flexible congress center facilities.
This architecture respects Mediterranean culture, utilizing light, shadows, colors, and materials to evoke Palermo’s historic center. Overhangs and fins manage solar radiation, while green spaces promote natural ventilation. This intervention embody modern urban trends, fostering idea exchange while celebrating beauty and sustainability in the port’s rapid transformation.
“
INSPIRED BY THE SILOS OF THE INDUSTRIAL MARITIME AREA , THE NEW AUDITORIUM FEATURES A CIRCULAR SHAPE WITH A STRONG CIVIC PRESENCE “
status: competition
size: 16,500 m2
cost: € 45 mln
client: Municipality of Rome
location: Roma (IT)
year: 2023
Our design proposal for the new Science Museum of Rome aims at enhancing the potential of the Flaminio neighborhood, adding a landmark along the east-west axis of via Guido Reni while restoring an urban porosity along the north-south breaking the boundaries of the former military compounds. The building’s footprint is reduced as much as possible, preserving exclusively the oldest steel-structure portion of the existing military campus and opening a new urban piazza that connects to Villa Flaminia’s park re-establishing an active green corridor. The architecture anchors to the new urban morphology, locating all public functions around the new green piazza and shaping the volumes of the new museum in continuity and spatial interaction with the preserved building. The new museum is envisioned as a machine for knowledge sharing, a civic reference able to communicate its vocation: a FORUM for sciences and critical thinking. The building is formed by overlapped layers that represent the scientific method of exploration and research. The ground floor - where the main entrance and the communal spaces are located - is blended with the two piazzas generating a permeable continuum, a common ground for knowledge sharing.
“
THE NEW SCIENCE MUSEUM OF ROME IS ENVISIONED AS A LAYERED JOURNEY , SYMBOLIZING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD’S PATH “
status: in design
size: 2300 m2
cost: € 6 mln
client: Autorità Portuale di Palermo-AdSP mare di Sicilia Occidentale location: Palermo (IT)
year: 2022
Palermo’s Port is rapidly evolving from an industrial hub into a vibrant tourist destination, seamlessly reconnecting with the city through a dynamic waterfront. The cruise terminal, situated at Vittorio Veneto pier’s tip, undergoes versatile expansion, catering to cruise ship luggage needs and providing event and exhibition space.
As the initial point of contact for incoming vessels and a city entry landmark, its design draws inspiration from ocean dynamics, wind patterns, and maritime elements. The transparent modular structure boasts an arched roof supported by slender columns, extending the Stazione Marittima portico’s reference point towards the sea. This contemporary lighthouse offers a breathtaking view of Palermo Gulf, shielded from intense radiation. Adhering to sustainability principles, it’s dry-assembled for easy disassembly, material reuse, and carbon emission reduction. This maritime station extension embodies integrated design, efficiency, and urban transformation.
“SIMILAR TO FACTORY-CRAFTED COMPONENTS, THE PAVILLION OFFERS MULTIPLE DISMANTLINGS, REASSEMBLIES AND REUSABILITY ”
status: in design
size: 7,000 m2
cost: € 10 mln
client: SIC - Sviluppo Immobiliare Corio
location: Milano (IT)
year: 2023
Milan’s gentrification is reshaping neighborhoods, like Via Anna Kuliscioff, exemplifying how rapidly urban life transforms, requiring adaptive buildings. The nine-story Torch tower, vacant since 2014, now marks the endpoint of SeiMilano’s regeneration project. It caters to thousands of new residents and visitors. The ground floor is reimagined, open north-south, featuring dining, an outdoor amphitheater, and co-working spaces linked to a new main lobby. An additional double facade system enhances Torch’s identity while offering solar protection. Green terraces connect the lobby to a roof garden with a 360° view. Internally, workspaces are optimized for flexibility and resilience. Torch serves as a hub for young companies, fostering informal meetings and knowledge sharing. It’s a vibrant destination, prioritizing work-life balance, earning WELL and WiredScore certification, and adding market value.
“
THE REVAMP OF THE TORCH IS CENTERED AROUND A DEEP RE THINKING OF THE GROUND FLOOR, DESIGNED AS A PUBLIC SPACE CONNECTING TWO SEGREGATED DISTRICTS “
status: concept
size: 15,000 m2
cost: conf.
client: CONSTRACT
location: Udine (IT)
year: 2021
The Udine Design District revives two abandoned buildings (8000 and 4500 m2) into a mixed-use complex focused on design, local traditions, and community reactivation. It houses a design university, retail, galleries, co-working spaces, student accommodations, and dining. The space between the buildings transforms into a lively square with an organic canopy, blending public and private realms for social and professional interaction. This canopy regulates outdoor comfort, extends usable months by 25%, and provides shelter from harsh weather.
Inside, both buildings are stripped while retaining the structure. The larger one features a two-story lobby hosting public functions, connecting indoor and outdoor spaces. The modular facade is designed for energy efficiency, offering shading and maximizing natural light. The smaller building, a design university, showcases a reflective facade changing color with sunlight.
The Udine Design District demonstrates the potential of urban regeneration, blending architecture and urban design for a vibrant city center, symbolizing Udine’s future
status: competition
size: 7,300 m2
cost: € 20 mln
client: Norske arkitekters landsforbund
location: Fetsund, (NO)
year: 2020
The Nasjonalt Fløtingsmuseum og Kompetansesenter for Våtmark, by the Glomma riverbanks, serves as a symbolic gateway to a unique natural reserve. Its design, resembling weathered driftwood, harmoniously blends with the environment, showcasing the historic connection between forest management and industry. This cultural center goes beyond a typical museum, promoting interaction, curiosity, and reverence for nature. It’s a destination for immersive experiences, a cultural hub for researchers, and an eco-friendly marvel targeting zero CO2 emissions. Natural ventilation, solar control, and geothermal systems ensure energy efficiency, with locally sourced wood providing extra heat during winter. The new Nasjonalt Fløtingsmuseum reimagines the museum experience and its relationship with the surrounding nature, transforming it into an interactive part of the discovery and learning path. A new paradigm of symbiotic architectural landscape to valorize remote productive areas and make their fascinating history accessible to everybody.
bygninger på stedet, kan resten av strukturen demonteres og resirkuleres om nødvendig, og forlate stedet sin opprinnelige stand.
“A NEW PARADIGM OF SYMBIOTIC ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPE TO VALORIZE REMOTE PRODUCTIVE AREAS AND MAKE THEIR FASCINATING HISTORY ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYBODY. “
status: competition, 3rd prize
size: 4,200 m2
cost: € 7 mln
client: Tennacola spa location: Sant’Elpidio a Mare (IT)
year: 2020
TENNACOLA’s commitment to innovation and preserving its heritage is reflected in its architectural approach, which aims to seamlessly connect indoor and outdoor spaces, uniting the new headquarters with the surrounding landscape. The constructed structures become integral parts of an organic park that permeates the entire site, connected by a green promenade. This pathway runs through the first building, housing offices, meeting areas, an auditorium, and informal workspaces, opening up to a lush pocket park at the project’s core, offering outdoor recreational areas. All workspaces face either the green heart or the park, promoting wellbeing and productivity. The second building, housing dining, storage, and a garage, serves as a backdrop to the pocket park and acts as a buffer with adjacent industrial facilities. The facade’s architecture passively responds to site orientation and solar angles, featuring vertical three-dimensional modules on the east and west sides. These modules offer solar protection and allow diffused daylight into all indoor spaces. Large flat roofs incorporate photovoltaic panels, thoughtfully arranged to maximize zenith light and natural ventilation through stack effect.
TENNACOLA’s headquarters epitomizes the fusion of production efficiency, well-being, energy efficiency, landscape integration, and architecture. It sets a new standard for future workspaces, emphasizing their connection with green outdoor environments.
“ TENNACOLA HEADQUARTER REPRESENTS AN EXAMPLE OF FULL INTEGRATION BETWEEN PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY, WELLBEING, ENERGY PERFORMANCE, AND ARCHITECTURE “
status: competition, 1st Prize in design size: 5,670 m2
cost: € 18 mln
client: Municipality of Palermo location: Palermo, IT
year: 2017-18
Sipario Urbano, resulting from an international design competition in Palermo, Italy, aims to create Sicily’s most extensive educational facility. Nestled in the city’s northern precinct, it redefines the urban landscape while celebrating the local culture. The school’s design emphasizes a lush, protective ambiance and a compact structure with three interconnected bands. These bands seamlessly blend formal and informal learning spaces, promoting interaction. Communal areas, including an auditorium, gym, and library with a terrace, anchor the educational environment. Classrooms line the building’s perimeter. The central zone fosters community life, facilitating natural ventilation and diffuse daylight. The facade reflects the region’s traditional terracotta hues, with precast panels demonstrating modularity and efficiency. It conceals and reveals activities, emphasizing community engagement and cultural enrichment. Sipario Urbano showcases architecture’s power to shape experiences within physical spaces.
“A CENTRAL SPINE OF COMMUNAL AREAS ANCHORS COMMUNAL LIFE AT THE HEART OF THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT”
status: competition
size: 7,690 m2
cost: € 18 mln
client: PPEL
location: Sparta, GR
year: 2018-19
The site of NAMS is a layering of cultural traces, a puzzle of different eras. Our proposal brings hierarchy between existing and new elements while transforming the site area into a tool for further exploration. The museum presents itself as an Ark, enclosing the archaeological findings and the scientific knowledge inside. Three distinct parts - a base, a body and a top - are hosting the storage, laboratories and exhibition areas respectively while the roof is providing natural and artificial lighting according to the museological needs. The geometry of the building is tuned to the facade treatment of the listed Zenetos building, bringing the two buildings in dialogue. The envelope of the new building is curated in order to reveal views towards the river, the ancient Acropolis and the Taygetos mountain. The museological path starts from the listed building and transitions to the new one. There, the exhibition chapters are curated in a route full of different space qualities and lighting, from the sense of excavation and immersion into the myth to brighter lighting surrounding artifacts and ruins. The identity of the new museum is strengthened through its distinct materiality. The envelope/facade of the building is protecting the indoor activities, filtering daylight and shading from direct solar radiation. With the aid of innovative fabrication technologies new inherent qualities of the material are revealed, such as translucency, color and texture. The new NAMS museum stands abstract, an archetypical prism that reveals its inside differently, depending on the weather changes and the ever-changing museum activities
Parallel Collective has already designed and delivered the company's flagship store for Chiosco Mediterranean Bar & NHVR in Palermo, Italy.
retail
status: completed
size: 500 m2
cost: € 0,2 mln
A contemporary interpretation of the typical avenue cafe (bar de viale) is proposed. The interior design is based on the juxtaposition of contradicting materials, which define the elements of space with abstraction and elegance.
client: NHVR location: Palermo (IT) and London (UK)
year: 2018-20
NHVR’s identity is deeply rooted into mediterranean and sicilian culture and its powerful identity and colors, reinterpreted in a contemporary way.
NHVR+Chioso Cucina & Drink represent this innovative spirit, transforming a traditional boutique along the famous via della Libertà into a dynamic hub for urban aggregation where the fashion store meets the cocktail bar/ restaurant, cross-contaminating each other and creating a dialogue with the street not only during the day, but also at night. The architecture preserves the layers of history of the existing store leaving walls and ceiling as they are: a witness of the passage of time and of our ever-changing society. NHVR+Chiosco creates a dialogue with this history, introducing exclusively few sharp, geometrical elements based on golden ratio proportions. The steel for the shelves, the exposed ducts and cables and the translucent material that illuminate the bar create a contemporary atmosphere, while the marble states a solid presence, a monumental bond with the local territory. NHVR+Chiosco offers a unique experience, combining fashion with food and beverage, involving all senses and showcasing an innovative approach in combining traditional tastes, flavors, sounds, materials and colors
Parallel Collective has already designed and delivered the company's flagship store for Chiosco Mediterranean Bar & NHVR in Palermo, Italy.
Parallel Collective has already designed and delivered the company's flagship store for
A contemporary interpretation of the typical avenue cafe (bar de viale) is proposed. The interior design is based on the juxtaposition of contradicting
