lorenzo bitto
selected works
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WORKING EXPERIENCE
SKILLS
Barile&Bortoluzzi Architetti Associati 2009-2010
Spoken Languages
My first works as a draftsman, mainly focused on the creation of technical drawings for residential permitting documents
BEMA Editrice 2010-2012
LORENZO BITTO INTERIOR DESIGNER lorenzobitto.interior@gmail.com (+39)3343692098 Lorenzo Bitto lorenzo.bitto lorenzo.bitto
Studies
Master’s Degree in Interior Design Politecnico di Milano
At BEMA, I tought young people with learning, cognitive and behavioural issues the fundamentals of graphic design and photography
Software used
Ghigos Ideas 2009-2017
2D Drawing Autocad Vectorworks
The collaboration with Ghigos Ideas has been ongoing since 2009. I began as an intern, moved on as an assistant professor and have been involved in several projects on the course of several years, spanning from domestic interiors, to exhibitions to competitions
ABOUT ME
Paolo Mantero Architetto 2013-2018
I am an interior designer with a specific experience in space planning and office interiors.
My work at Paolo Mantero Architetto has been focused on every aspect of office interior design, from space planning to interior and product design. I was envolved in several large-scale projects, first as a draftsman and subsequently as assistant project manager. A collaboration with an office furniture manufacturer allowed me to also gain a good experience in product design and engineering
I love combining and experimenting with materials, I have a passion for illustration and handcrafting, which I always try to translate into my work.
Italian native English A1 (TOEFL IBT score 118/120) French B1 Spanish B2 German C1
3D Modeling/Rendering Sketchup 2018 + Vray 3.6 Fstorm for 3dsMAX (currently learning)
Graphic Design Adobe Creative Suite (Ps; Ai; Id; Br) Other Microsoft Office
Additional skills
Illustrator (published) I have been collaborating for several years with Boundaries, a sustainable architecture magazine, and have created several illustrations and covers for their magazine Modelmaker/ Craftsman Apart from traditional maquettes and prototypes, I enjoy creating toys and theatrical props.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SELECTED PROJECTS BNL ROMA TIBURTINA BNL DIAMOND TOWER SINETICA INDUSTRIES RCI BANK COIMA DIAMANTINO UNICREDIT JUNECO
p. 06 p. 22 p. 30 p. 36 p. 42 p. 48 p. 56
PERSONAL WORK AESTHETICS OF THE VOID AGRICAMPING BOUNDARIES MAGAZINE
p. 64 p. 68 p. 72
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SELECTED PROJECTS 2013 | 2017
BNL ROMA TIBURTINA HEADQUARTERS 2013 - 2017 When I was first hired at Paolo Mantero Architetto, I began working on the interior design of the new BNL-BNP Paribas Headquarters in Rome. Construction of the building, designed by 5+1 AA, was set to begin shortly afterwards, and the concept design of all office floors, communal and executive areas had to be finalized. Being my first interior design project of a large-scale office building, I was introduced to the concept of space planning and its criteria, the complexity of managing the engineering and design aspects of the project, the challenge of meeting any request the client asked us in a very short timespan and the sheer amount of details which were individually designed to create a rich and coherent whole. 6
The building features nine office floors, a floor for board meetings, an executive floor with dedicated services and facilities, a restaurant, a cafÊ, an informal working lounge (or third place), an auditorium, an experimental BNL -BNP Paribs subsidiary -built to the bank’s latest Europe standards- and a main hall with a gallery connecting the auditorium foyer with the subsidiary. Each of these individual areas was designed in conjunction with the engineering department, suppliers and manufacturers and our role was to provide each party with the detail design of every element as well as with a copious amount of alternative solutions, generally dictated by dimensional or budget constraints. A bespoke line of furniture and lighting
was specifically designed for this project and was subsequently engineered and built by Estel and Artemide respectively. The BNL Tiburtina HQ building is currently fully operational, with just a few minor touches to go on the executive floor.
CREDITS Interior Design Paolo Mantero Architetto Next Urban Solutions Space Planning DEGW Architectural Design 5+1AA Engineering Starching Consultants Acusticastudio Voltaire Design CM Srl Photos Beppe Raso
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Facing page: rendered image of the main hall with the reception counter. The counter was built by Mascagni srl out of metal sheets, welded on a steel supporting frame. Joints between panels were ground and sanded and the whole surface was subsequently laquered. The access door, located in the back of the counter, swivels on a single, massive hinge and is supported by an additional wheel.
Top: the main gallery viewed from the auditorium foyer. A cladding of solid oak slats serves as both a decorative and partition element which will can be found throughout the building Bottom: the auditorium interior, viewed from the stage. Oak slats, mounted on a perforated metal support surface, hide a backlighting system made of linear LED light strips 9
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Facing page: an overview of the new BNL-BNP Paribas subsidiary built within the Tiburtina building. The subsidiary is open both to BNL employees and to regular customers. Glass-walled meeting rooms, a staple of the BNL’s Europe Standard can be seen in the background Right: isometric view of the subsidiary. The seemingly randomic placement of the small meeting rooms is dictated by Europe Standard requirements, as is the design of every component within the area. 11
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Facing page: a proof-of-concept of the final interior design, along with a pre-selection of suitable contractors and manufacturers for the production of all final furniture elements was set up inside the BNL Aldobrandeschi building. Part of the second floor was emptied, refurbished and furnished with prototypes of pieces we designed. The feedback received from employees testing the layout in the course of several months allowed us to further fine tune the project Top; Right: office floors are intertwined with informal meeting areas, a concept that was applied on a large scale in the BNL Tiburtina building 13
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Facing page: in order to achieve a modular office environment, a wide variety of worksettings (exemplified by this small selection) was designed. Each worksetting, sized according to a module that mimicks the structural grid of the building, can be essentially ‘dragged and dropped’ within a layout and create, in combination with other worksettings, a functionally sound working environment Top; Right: a view of the typical office floor interior, showcasing the different types of adjacent worksettings. Workstations and archives are located side by side with informal chat sofas, small meeting rooms, study booths and so forth 15
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Facing page: overview of the restaurant, located on the second floor and served by several free-flow islands. Oak slat cladding is used as both a partition and functional element, concealing service areas from the public and housing freebeverage machines and ATMs. Right: a wide variety of furniture pieces was selected to furnish this space. The brief called for a lively, informal environment, suitable for both food consumption and socialization 17
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Facing page: overview of the freeflow foodcourt. We designed each individual island with the supervision of Grandimpianti, a company specialized in the design, outfitting and running of large-scale restaurants Right: an example of the documents that were produced throughout the design process of the restaurant and its facilities. Each individual island would be represented in isometric view and additional technical drawings would be drafted and submitted to Grandimpianti for approval 19
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Facing page: employees entering the third place are met by a sequence of informal spaces, wich can be used to consume food and beverages bought at the adjacent cafĂŠ, have an informal meeting or get some work done outside of the conventional office space Right: an isometric view of the entire third place. Each island is assembled over a batipin platform and equipped with a mix of built-in and free-standing furniture. 21
BNL DIAMOND TOWER 2015 - 2017 As the New BNL Headquarters were nearing completion, our studio was tasked by BNP Paribas with the refurbishment of its new office building, the Diamond Tower, located in the recently completed Porta Nuova Varesine financial district in Milan. We were required to adapt the design criteria implemented in the Rome Headquarter to the new context, a 27-floor tower with slanted facades and a prominent core occupying almost half of the surface on each floor. Despite a few constraints, we managed to translate the majority of the original spirit of BNL Tiburtina’s interior in the new context. The layout of the new milanese building mimicks its roman counterpart: the ground floor hosts a double height 22
entrance lobby and a BNL - BNP Paribas subsidiary, fitted and furnished with a slightly altered and modified version of the compontents found in the Tiburtina subsidiary. Building constraints prevented us from creating an actual restaurant within the building, but we were able to design a café on the 15th floor, merged with elements borrowed from Tiburtina’s third place. Executive offices are located in the last floors of the building, while the very last floor, featuring a breath-taking view of the surrounding city, is dedicated to formal meetings and conferences as well as business lunches and dinners (the floor has its own independant kitchen and facilties).
CREDITS Interior Design / Space Planning Paolo Mantero Architetto Next Urban Solutions Architectural Design Kod Pederson Fox Associates Engineering Proger Photos Beppe Raso
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Facing page: rendered image of the accueil area on the 27th floor of the building. The corridor behind the counter gives visitor access to the floor’s modular dining rooms Left: night time photograph of the Diamond Tower, taken from the SouthWestern corner of the building Top: rendered image of one the building’s closed offices, overlooking the city of Milan.
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Facing page: the café on the 15th floor is furnished with elements that mimick Tiburtina’s third place. The islands in the Diamond Tower were completed sooner than those in the BNL Headquarters, and served as a model for the latter Right: isometric view of the café and lounge area of the 15th floor 27
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Facing page: isometric view of a standard office floor, the proportion between the core and the whole surface of the floor is clearly visible Top: one of the recreational areas present of almost every office floor in the building. Their presence compensates the lack of coffee break areas elsewhere in the floor, a worksetting which had to be scrapped for space constraints Right: an example of the worksettings borrowed from Tiburtina and repurposed for the Diamond Tower. Portrayed in the photo is a battery of touch down stations, designed for brief, informal work sessions 29
SINETICA INDUSTRIES 2016 - 2017 In 2016, we were approached by Sinetica Industries, an office furniture manufacturer based in Northern Italy, to develop two new lines of products , specifically designed for a smart office environment. The products would be displayed at Orgatec 2016 and would spearhead a series of formal and technological innovations that would influence Sinetica Industries line-up. The first line of product, Stay, is a family of office tables, featuring a metallic structure and solid beech wood legs, with the aesthetic feel of a product that could be suitable for both a work environment and a domestic context. Wemeet, on the other hand, is a product system of modular, bent plywood shells, which can be either assembled in basic, independent configurations (focus area, 30
chat sofa, phone point), or seamlessly combined to crate a complex, multifaceted working environment, particularly suitable to meet the requirements of modern workplaces, which tend to tip the balance between traditional and informal working areas towards the latter. The Wemeet system relies on a finite set of components (plywood panels, fitted with sound-absorbing foam panels and either partially or fully upholstered), which are then snapped together and fitted with the desired internal component: the same complete ‘shell’ can be fitted with a sofa and a small side table and act as a phone point, or equipped with a desk, a lamp and an office chair and serve as a focus area, for more prolonged working sessions.
The two new products were showcased, along with restyled versions of wellestablished pieces of Sinetica’s catalogue, at Orgatec 2016, for which we designed a pavillion featuring a birch plywood suspended ceiling (in line with the new finishes we proposed for the newly designed product lines) and a layout mimicking the context of a smart office environment.
CREDITS Product Design / Art Direction Paolo Mantero Architetto
Top: overview of the Orgatec pavillion. Sinetica bookcases create a partition between a more traditional working environment (featuring a selection of Stay pieces) and a support area, showcasing several iterations of the Wemeet family of products Right: a close up of the Wemeet area. Note the modular birch plywood shell, with full and interior-only upholstery. For products on display at Orgatec 2016, we selected a color palette from Kvadrat Clara 2 31
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Facing page: a Stay workstation, in a six-place configuration, featuring upholstered birch plywood dividers and Sinetica Captain office chairs Right: the backdrop of Sinetica’s Orgatec Pavillion. A Wemeet focus area can be seen, as well as a bench version of the Abacus bookcase (designed for the occasion) and the Chakra selfsupporting glass meeting pod by Universal Selecta Top: concept sketches for details of the Stay series 33
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Facing page: an iteration of the Wemeet Chat Sofa. A few modifications and improvements of this design preceded the production of the first prototype Top: a few of the variants of the Wemeet product family. From left to right: touch down, focus area and chat sofa Right: conceptual scheme showing the possible combinations of standard Wemeet modules 35
RCI BANK 2017 In late 2017, our firm participated in a design competition for the renovation of an RCI Bank office building, located in the near vicinity of the BNL Roma Tiburtina Headquarters. I researched RCI Bank’s recently updated branding identity, and lifted a few graphic elements we could use in the composition of a layout that could be both functional and highly expressive. The presence of a large circular stairwell, connecting the two floors of the office building, inspired the design of all ancillary spaces: while workstations were arranged along the facades, support areas such as meeting rooms, touch downs and chat sofas were designed to mimick the imposing circular presence of the stairwell, which we proceeded to carve out and turn 36
into a lighter concrete helix staircase, enclosed in a curtain of oak wood slats. The same circle pattern was also used on the second floor, to break out of the boundaries of a rigid double row of supporting pillars.
CREDITS Interior Design Paolo Mantero Architetto
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On page 35: the CafĂŠ Giardin, located on the ground floor near the entrance, serving as a main hub for the whole buildng Facing page: a large -and rather obtrusive- supporting beam in the middle of the entrance hall was incapsulated in a wooden cilindrical bookcase, which serves as a focal point for the surrounding library Top: entrance hall and reception counter. Graphical elements are lifted directly from the approved RCI Bank brand identity manual Right: open space office area, featuring a more linear layout for optimal surface use 39
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Facing page: meeting rooms, chat sofas and presentation pad all share the same circular pattern which characterizes all supporting areas Top: panoramic view of the first floor, seen from the elevator landing Right: view of a typical working environment, showcasing the adjacency of workstations with supporting areas 41
COIMA DIAMANTINO 2016 In late 2016, our studio was invited to participate in an interior design contest promoted by real estate grourp Coima. Participants were called to design the amenities floor within the Samsung Diamantino, one of the buildings of the Porta Nuova/ Varesine financial district in Milan. The brief called for the design of an easy to reconfigure interior space, which could be used by all the building’s tenants for informal meetings, conferences and events. The large core, a feature shared by the neighboring Diamond Tower, was wrapped in a polygonal stone cladding, which was used to house a concealable welcome desk, a wardrobe, a bar and a storage room. The rest of the floor is essentially free 42
and furnished with easily movable pieces. Large sliding panels can be used, if need be, to create several independant meeting rooms, allowing for multiple meetings to take place at the same time. A bar, serving customers during breaks and informal meetings, doubles as a catering station for events organized and hosted by tenants.
CREDITS Product Design / Art Direction Paolo Mantero Architetto
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On page 39: view of the bar housed within the faceted cladding of the core Facing page: layout of the amenities floor in its standard configuration the irregular shape of the floor was further disrupted with strong lines, which -through the intersection with the existing alignments- generate subdivisions between functional areas Top: the area facing the bar, furnished with a modular seating system. Individual benches can be combined together or stored away whenever the need arises to free the space for communal events Right: concept sketch of the modular seating system 45
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Facing page: amenities floor viewed from the entrance of the main entrance Top: functional configurations of the amenities floor: standard, conference and open event Right: open library facing the Porta Nuova villas and the twin Diamantino building 47
UNICREDIT 2017 - ONGOING As the project for the Diamond Tower’s interiors were nearing completion, our studio was contacted by Unicredit Bank for the refurbishment of two office buildings in Rome in Largo Anzani and Largo Fochetti. The brief called for the renovation of the interiors, facades (coherently with the aesthetic of the respective surroundings) and external areas. While the layouts of the new office floors are fairly linear and follow the same basic principles in both Unicredit Anzani and Unicredit Fochetti, the design of communal areas and exteriors are unique to each building. Our project for the exterior of Unicredit Anzani’s L-shaped building called for the addition of a layer of metallic rods, laid over the existing facade: our goal was to 48
dignify the structural grid of the original facade, adding a some protection from direct sunlight to the windows facing the internal courtyard. Originally a parking lot with a narrow walkway running along its perimeter, the internal courtyard was redesigned to offer workers entering the courtyard a promenade overlooking a green area. Other modifications to the original layout include the new entrance hall, a new bar connected to the external terrace and a renovated cafeteria. Largo Fochetti’s first floor, connecting the building’s three separate towers, was the primary focus of our renovation project: a segmented oakwood-clad tunnel, featuring a system of staircases, and ramps to compensate for the buildings’ different heights, was fitted
with a variety of integrated furniture. The result is a seamless sequence of informal working areas, chat sofas and lounges, which connects the entrance lounge and its wooden staircase with the bar, located at the opposite end.
CREDITS Interior Design Paolo Mantero Architetto Engineering Prelios
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On page 47: the promenade leading towards the entrance of the Unicredit Anzani building Facing page + top: entrance hall of Unicredit Anzani; the integrated staircase/access ramp/counter mimicks the design of Unicredit Fochetti’s first floor Right: overview of a typical office floor; supporting areas are arranged and located in close proximity of the workstations. 51
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Facing Page: entrance of the Unicredit Fochetti Building. The wooden staircase with integrated tables and seats leads up to the first floor gallery, which connects the three towers of the complex Top: entrance hall of Unicredit Anzani; the integrated staircase/access ramp/ counter mimicks the design of Unicredit Fochetti’s first floor Right: one of several lounge areas located throughout the first floor gallery 53
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Facing Page: overview of Fochetti’s first floor gallery. Oak veneer cladding and an array of integrated furniture area featured in the suspended walkways that make up the connections between te three towers of the Fochetti complex Top: a sample cross-section of a typical office floor. The experience with Sinetica gave us the tools to renovate our worksetting design and introduce new concepts within the standard office layout Right: one of the new worksettings created specifically to meet Unicredit’s standards was the Open Library, a mix between a collaborative workstation and a presentation pad. The monitor-bearing element is an iteration of Sinetica’s Wemeet family 55
JUNECO 2017-2018 Set in Milan’s Citylife Shopping District, the newly inaugurated Juneco beauty clinic embodies a concept seldom found in similar venues throughout Italy: a medical facility which is not just aseptic, laboratorial and visually cold, but a welcoming and pleasant environment, capable of conveying the feeling of a domestic space. As Juneco owners plan to expand their business over time, the Citylife clinic will be used as a design reference for all future venues, except for the necessary alterations dictated by tenant constraints. The citylife flagship clinic is set in a covered shopping court (overlooked by Isozaki’s, Hadid’s -and, soon enough Liebeskind’s- towers) and features a full height entrance lobby, 56
completely visible from the outside: the conventional approach of completely screening the interior from the outside, in order to ensure the privacy of customers, is achieved through the use of separation elements, as well as visual communication devices. A skin of oak wood slats clads the interior of the lobby, folds and bends to create a curtain around the waiting room, retracts to reveal a passageway leading to the medical rooms and frames bookcases and niches for lcd screens. Pendant and floor lighting sources were eliminated in favor of integrated lighting, both as spotlights and linear elements, in order to achieve a cleaner look and allow for the full, onobscured perception of the lobby area in all its height. The Juneco clinic has been inaugurated
in late December 2017 and a feasibility study for a new subsidiary is currently under way.
CREDITS Interior Design Paolo Mantero Architetto Lighting Consultant Voltaire Design
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On page 55: view of the storefront from the covered walkway which leads vistors from the courtyard to the commercial court Facing page: an interior shot of the accueil area. Oak slats are both used to clad the walls of the accueil, and create a partition, visually screening waiting customers from outside view Right: one of the mid-term iterations of the interior layout. Constraints due to available space and client requests ultimately led to the reduction of the accueil area to accomodate a management office near the entrance. Slight alterations were also introduced in the size and shape of the waiting area, while the rest of the layout remained virtually untouched 59
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Facing page: medical rooms are accessible by clients and personnel from the corridor located behind the counter. Choice of colours and finishes was dictated by regulations pertaining to medical facilities and by our desire to offer customers a clean, minimalist atmosphere while retaining some of the cozy, almost domestic feeling featured in the accueil Top: a rendered cross-section of the lobby and corridor, note the considerable height difference between the two areas 61
PERSONAL WORK
AESTHETICS OF THE VOID 2008-2015 During my internship at Studio Ghigos, I was given the opportunity to work independently on a small residential space, a 650 square feet apartment inherited by a young couple who had tasked us with its renovation. The original 1965 layout resulted in a high degree of functional separation between rooms and an overall lack of adequate daylighting, therefore my priority was to remove as many interior walls as possible -namely in the kitchen/ corridor/living room area- and to create an open space. I would have then proceeded with the replacement of the old furniture,outdated appliances and fittings. Feedback from the clients, aware of the issues inherent to the old layout but still sentimentally bound -so to speak64
to the original house, led to a different strategy: instead of completely erasing the traces of the ‘house past’, I opted for a subtractive approach, leaving the interior space virtually unchanged (going as far as placing the original furnitureback to its exact place) and carving out of it an exact geometrical shape. The old house now acts as a blank canvas, ready to accept the tracesthe new owners will be leaving on it as time goes by. The project was also documented in my Master’s degree thesis.
Top: apartment layout before and after the partial demolition of partitions in the kitchen/living room area 65
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Left: isometric view of the apartment after the intervention, with an exemplary focus on objects that were modified to be fitted inside the apartment Right: photography of the area of intervention taken from the entrance corridor 67
AGRICAMPING 2009 In November 2009, I attended a five-day workshop held by architect Aldo Cibic at the Politecnico in Milan. Students were required to design a campsite set in one of the many green areas existing right outside the city limits. My group focused on the countryside and set off to design a camping site that could relate to Milan’s strong -although often overlooked- agricultural heritage. Crop rotation thus became the main idea behind our project: by placing our camping site directly on the fields (more specifically, on the ones left unused for crop rotation purposes) and moving it according to seasons, we would actively involve our guests in the natural cycle that regulates life inand around a farmhouse. Our camp site would be composed of 68
individual wheeled modules (one for sleeping, one for cooking and a general purpose module designed as a meeting/ working unit), which could be towed by tractors from field to field or stored in the vicinity of the farmhouse when not in use.The project was submitted to the Green Camping Design Award and was awarded the Third Prize.
Right: illustration exemplifying the general layout of a portion of land converted to temporary agricamping 69
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Left: as fields are rotated, agricamping is moved onto uncultivated soil, actively engaging campers in the process -both natural and artificial- which regulates the countryside Top; Right: a schematic representation of a farm trailer converted into a dwelling unit and types of dwelling units created from the same, standard chassis 71
BOUNDARIES MAGAZINE 2008-2015 Set in Milan’s Citylife Shopping District, the newly inaugurated Juneco beauty clinic embodies a concept seldom found in similar venues throughout Italy: a medical facility which is not just aseptic, laboratorial and visually cold, but a welcoming and pleasant environment, capable of conveying the feeling of a domestic space. As Juneco owners plan to expand their business over time, the Citylife clinic will be used as a design reference for all future venues, except for the necessary alterations dictated by tenant constraints. The citylife flagship clinic is set in a covered shopping court (overlooked by Isozaki’s, Hadid’s -and, soon enough Liebeskind’s- towers) and features a full height entrance lobby, 72
completely visible from the outside: the conventional approach of completely screening the interior from the outside, in order to ensure the privacy of customers, is achieved through the use of separation elements, as well as visual communication devices. A skin of oak wood slats clads the interior of the lobby, folds and bends to create a curtain around the waiting room, retracts to reveal a passageway leading to the medical rooms and frames bookcases and niches for lcd screens. Pendant and floor lighting sources were eliminated in favor of integrated lighting, both as spotlights and linear elements, in order to achieve a cleaner look and allow for the full, onobscured perception of the lobby area in all its height. The Juneco clinic has been inaugurated
in late December 2017 and a feasibility study for a new subsidiary is currently under way.
CREDITS Interior Design Paolo Mantero Architetto Lighting Consultant Voltaire Design
Right: illustration for an editorial of the issue ‘Architecture and Peace’ Pages 68;69: illustrations from the the issues on small-scale dwelling units, as discussed in the issues ‘Compact Living’ and ‘Off the Grid’ 73
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thank you
Š lorenzo bitto 2018 78