Lovato architectural portfolio
selected projects 2021-2024
francesco.lovato@mail.polimi.it
+39 3279761122
Born on 20/11/2002 in Bolzano, Italy
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C1 (Göthe Institut)
C1 (Cambridge FCE)
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2024Sep - ongoing Master’s degree in Architectural design - Politecnico di Milano
professors: Alessandro Balducci, Luca Monica, Massimiliano Roca
2021Sep - 2024Sep Bachelor’s degree in Architectural design - Politecnico di Milano
grade: 110/110 | professors: Alessandro Balducci, Massimiliano Roca
2024Jul - 2024Aug BROLETTO A4T Workshop - Workshop in Milan
coordinated by Giancarlo Floridi by Ralf Pflugfelder and Matthew Phillips
2024Jul - 2024Jul Creative assistant - 00 Island Exhibition in Berlin
2023Oct - 2024Jul Exchange - Technische Universität Berlin
professors: Igniacio Borrego, Jan Kampshoff, Anupama Kundoo
2023Sep- 2023Oct Intern at FAKT - Office for Architecture in Berlin
Competition - 1st Prize - New Architecture School Siegen
2016Sep - 2021Jul Secondary school scientific diploma - Liceo Scientifico Evangelista Torricelli, Bolzano
2022Dec
2024Jul
project of a house on Isola Comacina, Como HOUSE ON THE LAKE p 3
project of a shed in Tiergarten, Berlin HYTTA p 7
HOUSE FOR A CASTAWAY
2024Jun p 11
project of a house on an island
2023Jun
project of a sailing club on Lake Maggiore
LEGA NAVALE p 14
2024Aug reuse a municipal market in Milan
BROLETTO WORKSHOP p 17
to build the theshold between land and water
Architectural Design Studio II prof. Massimiliano Roca Politecnico di Milano with M. Melozzi
The six-monthly theme of the design studio was to design a residence on Isola Comacina on Lake Como. The project is not conceived starting from the mere development of the function, but from the study of the relationships it establishes with nature, landscape, territory and history. The choice of site for the project was free to choose from the entire surface of the island, which hosts, in addition to a church and a restaurant, three residences for artists, designed by Pietro Lingeri at the beginning of the twentieth century. The choice of site for the new residence was guided by the intention to create a fourth house for artists, in continuity with Lingeri’s work, creating a dialogue with the historical and natural context of the island and the lake.
left:
territorial framework with three moments
cardboard maquettes
momento I, village and horizon momento II, village and water momento III, house and water
The design strategy originates from the dialogue between the project idea and a careful analysis of the territory on a large scale. The analysis shows that, along the coast, in addition to a fragmented urban development, there are settlements dating back to the medieval era. Two settlements approach the lake with two distinct modes, Carate (Moment I) has a centripetal urban configuration, and the dialogue with the water occurs through the horizon, Spurano (Moment II) has a direct relationship with the lake, which is manifested in the presence of steep alleys that allow boats to be moored at their ends. The integration of these two elements, direct access to the water and the definition of a horizon gave rise to the design strategy adopted for the residence on Isola Comacina.
The project involves the insertion of the residence on the southern coast of the island, in an area characterized by steep terrain and without direct access to the water. The building is articulated through the intersection of two axes: the axis of living and the axis of connection. The axis of living follows the natural slope of the land, arranging itself longitudinally to the line of the lake, and the axis of connection is represented by a staircase that connects the path to the water, creating a new direct access to the lake, and by an overhanging roof that establishes a visual and symbolic connection with the horizon. The intersection point between the two axes generates a threshold space, fundamental for the residence since it serves as access to the building and the lake.
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The threshold space is the central element of the house, as it determines the distribution and hierarchy of the other rooms. Its realization occurs with the overhanging roof, which balances the asymmetry of the building and creates a dialogue with the lake and the landscape, projecting itself towards them like a springboard. The staircase that from the path crosses the building to reach the water is flanked by a ramp
designed for docking small boats. The residence consists of two bedrooms located at opposite ends, separated from the living areas by central service blocks. This arrangement allows for the expansion of the living space, which includes the kitchen and living room, directly connected to the threshold space, allowing for the creation of a continuous and fluid environment.
section AA’ through the island and the through the theshold cement maquette next page: ground plan with context
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to define the limit from the wildness
Entwerfen un Baukonstruktion III prof. Anupama Kundoo Technische Universität Berlin with B. Heinrich and L. Strzelczyk
The theme of the design studio was the design of a pavilion inside the Tiergarten park in Berlin, with the aim of creating an architecture that respects a natural context that the community wishes to preserve from any human intervention. In this complex social context, the project takes inspiration from a reflection by Auguste Perret to his students: “always remember to design beautiful ruins”. The project called Hytta, a Norwegian term meaning refuge or shelter, intends to fit into the natural context not as an imposition of man’s power over nature, but as a form of reconciliation with it, performing the function of a support building for people and the park. The theme is to create a limit from the wildness.
left: territorial framework
design analogy with a tree trunk
Tiergarten Park, a vast urban void, metaphorically represents a green island, almost untouched by human intervention. Although the park, completely deforested during the Second World War for the needs of the population, was the subject of detailed planning, with a schedule of planting phases for each tree to create a varied vegetation, the local population developed the desire to preserve its naturalness, which had by now become wild, opposing any architectural or urban intervention. The chosen site is located in the heart of the park, far from the beaten track, in a wild area full of oaks and beeches, characterized by a thick, almost
inaccessible undergrowth. In this place, the human presence is perceptible only through the original planning of the park. The design approach arises from an analogy with the trunk of a tree, an element that is already part of nature. Trees follow a growth process, which causes them to expand outwards, while inside they slowly die, generating irregular cavities. The bark acts as a protective barrier, as a limit, in the same way the project is conceived, as a wall between the wild external environment and an empty, irregular and protected internal space in which man finds refuge from the surrounding environment.
section AA’ through the inner atrium
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The building presents itself externally as a mysterious monolith, characterized by a single opening that invites the dispersed passerby to enter it. The entrance, compressed and narrow, leads to a full-height atrium, an empty space dug out irregularly by projecting volumes, dynamic and contrasting with the external static nature of the building. The building acts as a wall between the outside and the inside, in which different
compositional choices occur. In the atrium there are openings that have a domestic character, while on the external facades an abstraction of a conventional opening is created, with the use of jealousies, some through, to give light to the spaces of man, others blind. This process was also further influenced by the theme of the laboratory, namely the rediscovery of brick as a material that generates architecture.
cardboard maquette. facades with vertical thrust and facade designs with gelosie right: view from the atrium. the overhanging volumes define the void
The brick plays a central role in the project. The configuration of the walls with bricks arranged at forty-five degrees gives the facade a vertical direction, recalling the bark of the tree, in contrast with the horizontality of the joints. Even in the atrium the wall has the same arrangement as the brick, while the projecting volumes adopt a traditional pose to emphasize the difference.
From a functional point of view, the path of the man follows a promenade that, starting from the ground floor, passes through a series of rooms and ends with the reaching of the terrace on the roof from which there is a view of the foliage of the surrounding trees. The project aims to become an appropriate element in the park, integrating to the point of being indispensable for the place itself.
the light as a guide in the labyrinth HOUSE FOR A CASTAWAY
Home of Shadows Competition Mention with A. Russo
The competition requires the design of a house that uses only natural light, in a clever play of shadows and chiaroscuro. Our project stems from the archetypal concept of architecture, that is, giving shelter to man, threatened by the cruel nature that surrounds him. This house is designed for a castaway, who is awaited day after day, ready to be welcomed and protected. In the wait, the building lends itself to a continuous dialogue with the passage of time and with natural light, which cyclically shapes and transforms the spaces, illuminating the architectural voids. Natural light becomes an active element in the architecture, accompanying the disoriented castaway and guiding him through the labyrinthine path of the building.
The building takes on the archetype of the enclosure, a composition that offers shelter and introversion. However, the identified typology is transfigured by the presence of a passage, which allows the continuation of the path through the house, cutting across the contour line. The passage creates a labyrinthine composition in the plan, built on a sequence of spaces straddling the interior and
exterior. The recognition of a path is made possible by the presence of light. Cuts, voids, and gaps rhythmically placed in walls and coverings create a directional language constructed by light. Light thus becomes a guide, through which it is possible to identify one’s path within the masses that divide the rooms. The architecture finds its existence in the light, which completes it and clarifies its spaces.
The project was born from a reflection on the role of light in architecture. It does not act as a distinct or scenographic element but is intended as a supporting spine to be able to experience the spatiality of the building.
Light becomes a catalyst for the distribution dynamics within the building, acting as a guiding element. The labyrinthine plan is clarified at a spatial level by the continuity of light.
to create a landmark for the lake
Building technology studio I prof. Cinzia Talamo Politecnico di Milano with T. Perasso and A. Russo
The aim of the workshop was to study the construction aspect in the six-month architectural project. An integral part of the exercise consisted in the production of technological details aimed at understanding in depth the structural functioning of the building. The detail was not conceived as a final project, but as an element to be developed in parallel with the design phase, but it was developed in parallel with the compositional phase. The exercise involved the design of a new public building for the Municipality of Arona, on the shore of Lake Maggiore, intended to house a naval league, home to nautical clubs and boat consortia. The design objective was to make the building stand out in the surrounding context, giving it the role of landmark and direct relationship with the lake.
territorial framework
territorial view from the lake
The project is located along the western coast of Lake Maggiore, south of the municipality of Arona, and as in the two previous interventions, it establishes a strong bond with the natural environment in which it is located. The urban context of the area lacks a recognizable building fabric, with buildings distributed sporadically, which contributes to a perception of a weak identity of the place. The site is identified according to a dual identity: the horizontality of the natural dimension,
to the verticality of the masts of the boats. The design theme of the Landmark has been established: a symbolic element, which becomes a point of reference for the community and for visitors. The building not only performs its public function, but aims to establish a dialogue with the surrounding landscape, becoming part of it. This approach aims to consolidate the recognizability of the entire territory, contributing to its cultural and landscape regeneration.
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section AA’ through the tower and the pier for mooring boats
The building is composed of a horizontal volume, parallel to the lake shoreline, and a tower, set back from the main façade. This composition, which contrasts horizontality and verticality, reflects the desire to fit into the natural context with respect, while aspiring to symbolically become a new “lighthouse” for the lake. The horizontal volume presents an alternation of full and empty spaces with an irregular rhythm, while its top is defined by
a steel plate that establishes the attachment to the sky of the building. The practicable roof becomes a public space, doubling the surface area of the ground floor. The tower, by typological definition is a volume with few openings towards the outside, in this project it opens towards the lake through a horizontal cut at the top, which houses a panoramic point. The land with a slight slope, leads to the pier intended for mooring boats.
to rethink the municipal market
Workshop Alliance 4 Tech prof. Giancarlo Floridi Politecnico di Milano with H. Álamo
The workshop, addressed to students of merit from the Politecnico di Milano, the ETSAM of Madrid and the TU Berlin, aimed at finding innovative solutions for the redevelopment of the municipal markets of Milan, many of which are in a state of abandonment or have significant functional problems. The project, developed in groups, focused on a specific lot, proposing a new urban and social configuration. The production of the documents included the insertion of the project in the urban context, representative sections to illustrate the integration of the building in the surrounding environment, and conceptual models to visualize both the design idea and the positioning of the object in the lot.
section AA’ through the street, volumes and square right: context maquette of styrofoam
The project redefines the role of the market within the urban and social context. It involves the demolition of the existing building, characterized by a closure towards the city, and the introduction of two low volumes that separate the new square from the street, re-establishing the original axis and creating a semi-cover for the square itself.
The height of the roof gives the place a dimension of public space, transforming the area into a “Campo” intended for the daily activities of the neighborhood. The curved roof also plays a fundamental role in reconnecting the surrounding urban blocks, improving the overall cohesion of the area.
THANK YOU
francesco.lovato@mail.polimi.it +39 3279761122
IG: @lovato.francesco LI: Francesco Lovato