ARCHITECTURE
PORTFOLIO
Lorenzo Conti Design + Research Portfolio
[
arch.lorenzo.conti@ gmail.com
]
ARCHITECTURE
PORTFOLIO
09 | 02 | 1990 tel. +39 333 1473902 arch.lorenzo.conti@gmail.com Via Trionfi Honorati 7 Serra de Conti, Ancona, Italy
Over a period of five years at the University of Ferrara, I have gained experience on a wide range of architecture projects, especially focused on technology, efficiency, environment, sustainability, restoration and urban regeneration. Once graduated I started to embrace a more practical architecture, joining on-ground activities in order to enhance my abilities on handmade construction, participatory design and low-cost architecture. Now, I would like to collaborate with experts in these fields and give my contribution towards a more human-scale design approach related to architecture and urban matters. I truly believe this is the best way to achieve better living conditions nowadays, regardless dwellers economical status and triggering social engagement within communities.
Contents Built projects eARThouse | house for the arts | Abetenim, Ghana | 2016 Opoku’s house | rammed earth dwelling unit | Abetenim, Ghana | 2016
Construction-site participation
I III V
A playground for Syrian refugees | CatalyticAction | Bar Elias, Lebanon | 2015 Casa Imperfieta | Paratelier | Ericeira, Portugal | 2015 Corso di costruzione su tecnica Greb | Edilpaglia | Rimini, Italy | 2016
Academic projects Cultural Centre, community project | Master thesis | Reggio Emilia, Italy Theca, farm tower | Architecture competition | New York, usa In-between, bus station | Designing studio | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Cultural field, urban regeneration | Urbanism | Ferrara, Italy
VI VII VIII IX
Te c h n i c a l s k i l l s Representation | 3d compositing and drawings Construction | Restoration and energy efficiency
[
arch.lorenzo.conti@ gmail.com
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COMMUNITY
COST-EFFECTIVE
eARThouse A House for the Arts and Crafts
Abetenim Arts Village, Ghana
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July - November 2016 completed
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9’616 €
Front-view
Executive team: Lorenzo Conti, Sara Bettoli, Mattia Lucchetti + Mantey Jectey-Nyarko (KNUST) + Nka Foundation 1
2
3
4
10 12
11
9
5 60°
8
13
6
85°
7
Section metal mesh 8 Floor construction: 3 Transparent corrugated sheets 1 Roof construction: 11 Wall construction: 8"x1" wooden frame 3" compacted stabilized earth 4 Top wall construction: corrugated metal covering sheets 16” stabilized rammed earth wall 6 2" water pipe 4" rammed earth screed 2"x6" tie beam 3"x2" roof battens 12 Partition construction: 7 Foundation construction: polyethylene sheeting 9"x1" wooden ring beam 2"x6" rafters 18 mm plywood board polyethylene sheeting 3" sand metal flashing interior solar screen fabric 2”x3” timber frame The main function of this building5 Opening is construction: The project16"x6" aims toconcrete enhance natural sustainability means reinforced ring undisturbed earth In this project 2 Gable ventilation: 18 mm plywood board granite stones with concrete mortar 9 Integrated electric switches/sockets solar screen of babadua reeds mosquito net 13 Steel connectionbudget, for elevated timber about arts production, as a platform materials and local techniques. To working with the plate lowest in concrete floor mosquito net 10 Roof structure tie rod metal mesh post (self-built)
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Tr a d i t i o n
Earth technique
Lo w- b u d g e t
for culture exchange. Continuing the traditional “patio house”, eARThouse explores alternative roofing solutions providing rainwater harvest as well as natural ventilation and thick walls, according to well-defined principles of sustainability in tropical climates.
achieve maximum interest towards earth made structures, it was used pisé technique because it tends to be locally perceived as a modernization of the local earth buildings and a possible valid substitute of increasingly widespread cement buildings.
order to achieve a cost-effective building according to local dwellers affordability. Reducing the cost anyone within the community will be able to improve his dwelling condition, despite personal resources.
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COMMUNITY
COST-EFFECTIVE
eARThouse A House for the Arts and Crafts
Metal formwork on-site production
Metal formworks
Roof structure
Partition detail
External view
Rainwater harvesting system
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“Babadua� screen
Integrated sockets
Metal formworks
Sustainability
Lo c a l m a t e r i a l s
To reduce the construction cost the team designed metal formworks as a community tool, easily reusable by anyone several times, compared to the common wooden ones. They were designed and then produced together with the local welder. The project is characterised by thick earthen walls, with high thermal mass and small openings towards south-side.
Foundations are made of granite boulders from the local quarry. The slight slope area of the site allowed small excavation for the foundations works, offering natural rainwater drainage system. Responding to tropical climate conditions the building has steep-pitched roof, with open gable and high peak to allow air circulation.
To prevent from direct sunlight the main openings are covered with horizontal canes called Babadua, tied together to make a dense screen. Babadua is a traditional material, locally available and one of the most resistant type of wood against termites and weather, but fallen into disuse as a poor material nowadays.
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COMMUNITY
COST-EFFECTIVE
Opoku’s house Rammed earth dwelling unit
Abetenim, Ghana
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November 2016 - in progress
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890 € estimated
Front-view
Executive team: Lorenzo Conti, Sara Bettoli, Mattia Lucchetti + Mantey Jectey-Nyarko (KNUST)
Tropical context
III
Formworks linear set
On-site participatory design
Opoku story
Affordability
Innovation
Opoku is a farmer with a wife and three children and he has already started the foundations of his new house. Unfortunately, few months ago, he ran out of money, but he now agreed to continue building with rammed earth walls, since the money he has saved are enough to go on using reusable formworks.
The key of this project lies within the capacity of the owner to fund the building himself. In fact, any decision was taken from Opoku’s resources, according to his budget only and developing user-specific solutions. During the construction time it has attracted many interested people from Abetenim and surroundings The construction cost is about 20 €/m2.
The technical choices aimed to provide a valid and endearing alternative to the increasingly spread of concrete blocks buildings which are totally unsuitable to the tropical climate. The rammed earth technique merges traditional local materials with more efficient construction methods, in terms of construction speed and durability.
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COMMUNITY
COST-EFFECTIVE
Opoku’s house Rammed earth dwelling unit
Metal formworks
Local workers
Internal view
Window detail
IV
Veranda structure with recycled material
External view
Tie rod detail
Tie rod detail
Sustainability
Wall stabilization
Lo c a l i m p r o v e m e n t
The project has three rooms, connected by an outside veranda, each room has only a windows to prevent from overheating due to solar radiation. The thick walls keep the interior spaces cool because of their high thermal mass.
In order to use the metal formworks into different foundation thickness, their fixing system has been adapted to a wider flexibility of uses in various projects. Moreover, the stabilization is made by 4% of cement for the lower part of the walls, whereas it goes to 2% for the upper part, since that portion is more protected by the overhanging roof.
The development of a reproducible system that does not need special skills can give a chance of improvement towards people in disadvantaged areas. It optimizes costs and time in constructions, without considering expensive imported materials and suggesting local communities in tracing the most affordable way of using local products.
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SOCIAL
HANDMADE
Construction-site participation Affordable architecture Playground The playground has been designed with the input of the children themselves. This project will help a generation of children that may otherwise suffer from psychological trauma and developmental issues. The structure was assembled on-site using simple timber profile.
The school courtyard
The Playground
S e l f- c o n s t r u c t i o n The project is designed to be half-finished by not skilled labours. In this way the concrete structure enables the user to customize the spaces and reducing the costs. We had worked almost one week to set up a timber frame made of simple profiles.
Timber posts
The windows frame
Greb construction I have joined the EdilPaglia project for 4 days, learning how to use straw bales in greb technique, make and install the greb mortar. The house is made of natural materials and with self-construction method, reducing the overall costs while enancing the energy performance
Greb mortar
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Outside view
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PUBLIC
URBAN REGENERATION
Cultural Centre
4,60
4,60
Community Project at Reggio Emilia
terrace sport relax
24,00
3,70
4,30
3,30
private area workshop
4,30
associations administration
music dance rehearsals
greenhouse 3,30
meeting
7,30
class I lectures events
greenhouse 3,30
exhibition streetmarket playground
Life inside
Master Thesis |
Supervisors: Luca Belatti, Silvia Brunoro, Roberto Di Giulio
percorso pedonale
scala
services classroom
offices
park entrance
greenhouse
Volumes
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Envelope
Paths
New speed
Identity
Community
The new high-speed railway station in the northern suburb of Reggio Emilia will bring a new stream of people and investments. Community should reacts to this over-imposed economic urban planning opposing a bottom-up local development. To build something grown from the dweller’s will, is the key for a smart
land development and it gives people back a strong role in the production of urban habitat. Whereas it is considered just a peripheral area, it actually represents the old entrance to the city. It is crucial to maintain its configuration and its history. The thesis suggests a densification process to enhance the existing community called Mancasale.
Within this densification, a cultural centre plays a very significant role. It is design to inspire a sustainable way of building, with low-cost techniques, lightness and flexibility. It opens us several opportunity for the community to express its social engagement, responding to changing scenario proposed by external stakeholders.
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PUBLIC
URBAN VOID
Theca Farm Tower in NYC
Vertical farm
AWR Competition |
High Line
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Partner: Laura Dussini
Crops levels
Winter gardens
Lo w- E n e r g y
Oxygen
Device
As well as the concept of vertical farm settles again the right balance between human and nature in urban context, it could lead to unsustainable scenarios. The meaning of Farm Tower itself, as multy-storey structures for agriculture products, requires a great amount of energy.
In terms of renewables, the main goal in every new buildings should be more about reaching the lowest energy consumption, using less technology system, instead of developing complex and expensive features, especially for this kind of building. The proposal grows from the necessity to build a natural environment for crops, providing sunlight and oxygen.
The all volume should be as trasparent as possible, givin the possibility to receive the maximun time of daily light. At the same time, a traslucent envelop could be made of crops, so as it controls the internal overheating with a low-tech idea. The projects reacts to the aseptic cultivation of food in iper-controlled environment.
VII
PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURE
In-between Bus station in Santo Domingo
Tour-Bus
Taxi
Small-Bus Sub-Bus Bicycles
Interchange station and the old fortress
Studio Project |
Teachers: Neven Fuchs Mikac, Joana SĂ Lima, SO-IL
Exterior view
VIII
Prototype
Fluxes
Democracy
Working in-between parts always leads projects to negotiate with borders. Finding new distances and limits. As a prototype, this project works in the inbetween space. It connects the no-man surfaces of different contexts. The project reacts to the resistance of the borders acting as an absolute circular element of one level,
strategically placed for a bus rapid transport system. Everything goes inward and outward because the plan is autogenerated by the existing fluxes of people. All the ramps rise from the ground and draw a first floor. The prototype can operate in other contexts by increasing or decreasing the number of ramps, its dimension and its programme.
The object is a democratic element but It is not political. It provides a common space where people from different cultures and social classes will meet. The interchange is not just from bus to cars or bicycles but also between people, due to the logic of the movement inside the project.
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PUBLIC
URBAN PLANNING
Cultural field Urban regeneration of Ferrara
Waterfront
Studio Project |
Punctual strategic reuse
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Teachers: Daniele Pini, Marco Zaoli, Romeo Farinella
new public spaces
Warehouse refurbishment
Waterfront
Return to productivity
Lo c a l G r o w t h
This project seeks to put forward a new plan for the riverside of Ferrara. The focus is on the environmental and infrastructural conditions, the conservation and enhancement of urban heritage and cultural landscapes. The context provides a great amount of volumes, due to the abandon industrial buildings.
The river was used for transportation, fishing and leisure time, and the waterfront was therefore used for warehouses. Once identify the potentialities of the context, through visits and surveys, the project proposes the reuse of the central area as a residential area, whereas the riverside is used as a commercial and leisure area.
The system is balanced by two cultural spots. One on the east, the public theatre, on the west side, the community centre. On the north, the project transform four factories as museums and a campus. The main principles are: economical and social sustainability for local growth, urban regeneration, energy and traffic sustainability.
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DRAWING
DIGITAL
Representation 3d compositing and drawings
Hand drawing
Sketch
Reproduction
External visualisation
Forested natural surroundings
Internal visualisation
Small scale model
Big scale model
Internal visualisation
Rendering Using various modelling techniques and materials I have improved my skills. I have also gain knowledge of architectural factors and properties through modelling, such as transparency, materiality, depth, refraction and reflection. Besides that models could help the construction process, pushing further the structural research.
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TECHNICAL
ANALYSIS
Construction Restoration
Deterioretion
Facade analysis
20 cm
o5
20 cm
s 10mm o5
s 10mm
20cm 20cm
d 0.5cm d 0.5cm
Architectural Photogrammetry
Interventions
Seismic retrofitting
h 1.70cm
Energy efficiency
h 1.70cm
Solar radiation and shadows analysis
Environmental diagrams
Daylight analysis
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Conservation
Details
Environment
I have learned technical methodologies of restoration: materials, compatibility, reversibility in a restoration process, geometric survey, stratigrafic survey, conservation analysis, material degradation process, prevention and correction, surfaces trearment.
I learned to use dry technologies such as timberframe or still structure. I investigate methods, procedures and strategies, wich enable me to asses the feasibility of architectural design, high flexibility solutions,technologies for the energy efficiency performances and management strategy.
I am able to apply the methodology for the analysis of energy systems, ensuring energy comfort and a low energy consumption. I have knowledge of thermodynamics, natural ventilation, energy retrofitting, condensation phenomena, processes of thermal exchange calculation of trasmittance.
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