Academic Portfolio

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO F R A N C E S C A TA F I

Architecture in developing countries Uganda (2014) Brazil (June-December 2013) Ecuador (Accademic year 2012-2013) “Double-Faced” (January-April 2015)

Other designs Church in the countriside (Accademic year 2013-2014) Medieval tower (Accademic years 2011-2013, 2012-2013) Chianti Rùfina brand (March-April 2014)

Besides architecture Photography Arts and crafts

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ARCHITECTURE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

UGANDA Collaboration with Movimento Shalom and GraduationThesis with M. Verdi Masonry, Multipurpose Centre, Sustainable Tecnologies

Collaboration with “Movimento Shalom”

The Thesis: “Building in African earth.

Design of a multipurpose centre in Uganda”

This research began with the collaboration between the grad students and “Movimento Shalom” (Italy), a laic-volunteer organization active in many countries all over the world, included Uganda.

The Shalom-sponsored project consists in the realization of a “Casa della Pace” in Mityana (Uganda). This project is a juvenile-formation centre, including a hostel, a school, local micro-credit offices and others trading activities, which main purpose is to provide job opportunity for Ugandan youth and supply economic self-sufficiency of the centre.

The first step was the collaboration with an Ugandan architect in order to define the hostel design, under construction since July, 2014. The field-experience, planned in August 2014, was necessary to understand the local culture and its traditions.

The design of the centre began after the travel, stretching from the master plan to the final definition of the single buildings.

This kind of research matches the architectural criticism based on the “less is more” concept, in order to reach a smart and functional design in under-developed areas. We took inspiration from an architecture which can still show the simple and proper aspect of its being, in a different context from traditional architectural canons: a design respecting the local, cultural and structural properties where initial constrains become strength and opportunities for the planning choices.

The “Ugandan cooked-brick” was chosen as the main material of the buildings; it is a cheap handcrafted product, icon of progress and development for the local community.

BRAZIL Scholarship and Competition

with G.Falaschi, M. Gennari, C. Iaquone, M. Verdi

Favelas, Housing, Sustainable Tecnologies

Scholarship

“Houses for Change” competition finalist

After winning a scholarship for a trip to Brazil, I attended a workshop at the “Universidade Federal de Santa Caterina”, Florianopolis, (Brazil) on the design of temporary and reversible housing for the poorest neighborhoods of the city. I had the opportunity to visit,

The purpose of the competition, hosted by “IE School of Architecture and Design”, was to consider housing as an urgent and basic component of improving urban environments for poor people and those at risk and to propose viable housing alternatives for those often neglected.

and then analyse, the settlement of Serrinha, one of the biggest favela in Florianopolis.

After the direct experience in Brazil, my teamwork (G. Falaschi, M. Gennari, C. Iaquone, M. Verdi)and I joined the competition, suggesting a co-operation between the public and the private sector in order to change the traditional way of living in the favelas of Serrinha. Our proposal suggested the provision of infrastructure ans services by the public sector and the following settlement of families.

ECUADOR

Accademic Project with M. Verdi

Bamboo, Eco-Museum, Bioclimatic Solutions

The project is a design of an Eco-Museum which represents Amazon culture. It consists of exhibition pavilions, as well as laboratories, eco-lodges for tourists and amenities such as a restaurant. Space for activities within the centre allow its self-sufficiency, for example, crops are grown on-site to be used by the restaurant. The general planning design was developed by studying the “Victoria Amazonica�, a common local plant, combined with the principles of bio-climatic architecture. All of the bamboo pavilions permit natural ventilation and daylight, preventing internal overheating, typical of equatorial climates.

“DOUBLE-FACED” Competition

with M. Verdi

Favelas, Housing, Shipping Containers

The competition, hosted by “Shelter Global”, was aimed to foster new ideas on how to better handle the growing density of unplanned cities and to consider how design can empower communities.

In front of the features of urban favelas, such as illegal appropriation of land, utter lack of infra-

Although they are practical, shipping containers, as a standardised element, do not belong to any particular context, thus they are devoid of any inherent culture. Here, the name of our design has its roots: “Double-Faced” or “DIF”, since one of the facades showcases the rigid and repetitive piling of ship con-

structure, no green and public spaces, and the urban sprawling, the settlement proposed tries to find a balance between the land use and manageable spaces which are pleasing to live in and tackles the increasing residential demand offering spaces for residential, job and leisure activities.

Shipping containers have been chosen as the main structural element to develop this setting.

It is an essential prefabricated unit, which presents a simple emergency shelter. Recyclable and spread all over the world, it offers the possibility of an easy and fast assembly, setting up different spaces for several activities.

tainers, while the other is built with local techniques and materials. The building is comprised of two main facades: “D”, which stands for Dwellings (containers) and “F”, which stands for Features (expansion spaces), linked together by a central infrastructural spine, “I” (plants and services).

OTHERS DESIGNS

CHURCH IN THE COUNTRISIDE

Accademic Project

Wall, Cross, Countriside

“ Lo svettare di un fico da un muro ha tutta la pienezza dei campi. La realtà non è nell’oggetto tangibile, ma nel rapporto fra le cose. Così che il muro che recinge e sbarra concede di più di quel che non ha. Quel muro con i rami e le foglie appena visibili è sintesi di arti, casa, famiglia, silenzio, solitudine”.

Giovanni Michelucci The design develops from the concept of a wall and from the sensations which its view creates. It is not a whichever wall, but the one of the tuscany countryside which encolses, hides and finally reveales. The building does not show its deep meaning, at a first view; it only discloses a “lack” that will be understood coming down. The walls conceal their “treasure” and also their meaning in the underground level: the cross. A void from which the church is revealed for the first time.

MEDIEVAL TOWER

Accademic Project with M. Verdi

Historical Analysis, Metric survey, Refurbishment,

This work consists of an analysis and a proposed restoration of a medieval tower, in a small Tuscan village. The first step was a metric survey of the building, alongside a study of its historical development and construction. Subsequently, restoration work on the masonry and an inner refurbishment were proposed.

CHIANTI RÙFINA BRAND

Competition

Wine, Identity

The brand proposed received a mention in the competition “Rimarchiamolo”, hosted by the wine company “Consorzio Chianti Rùfina” to design a new brand for the identification, communication, and promotion of the Chianti Rùfina group and its products.

Inspiration for the design came from the customary accent mark of Rùfina, a wine drop generating a whirl, which gives off all the scents of the wine.

BESIDES ARCHITECTURE

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is one of the tools of which I can’t help be witout. It allows me to frame architecture from interesting points of view and to catch the “soul” of the places I visit.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126031509@N06/

ARTS AND CRAFTS

In my spare time I relish sketching with pencils, drawing with oil colours and DIY.