Simone Costa - Architecture Portfolio - 2017 by Simone Costa

SIMONE COSTA ARCHITECTURE

PORTFOLIO

SIMONE C

MAY 11TH 1990,

venaria reale (TO) -

+31 6 17 06 82 60 I graduated at TU

ITALY

costa.simone@live.it

DELFT - THE NETHERLANDS cum laude

after i got my bachelor at POLITO - ITALY (scuola Politecnica di Torino) cum laude I â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ve worked as

at MECANOO from june 2016 to december 2016

designer

I fluently speak ITALIAN and ENGLISH my FRENCH is not that bad, and maybe there will be place for DUTCH I work with AUTOCAD, RHINO, REVIT, V-RAY and it goes without saying, photoshop, illustrator, indesign too

INDE

COSTA

01 02

CHICAGO URBAN LAB Chicago, U.S.A.

LIVING WITHIN THE GRID Chandigarh, India

03 04

OVERHOEKS BOOMERANG Amsterdam, The Netherlands

INDUSTRIAL REFURB Torino, Italy

competition

work exp.

architecture portfolio

WORK EXP.

EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK Luxembourg City Luxembourg Offices

DvD / WTD phases Space/Atmosphere studies Material studies 1:50 fragments drawings

Mecanoo

A new headquarter, a new opportunity: the challenge of dealing with the rapid expansion of the core supporting institutions of the European Union. Following a competition held in 2014, Mecanoo is currently designing the new offices for the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. A task focused on few but vital elements: a sustainable building, expressing the kew values of the EIB institution, as an open, democratic and connected environment, suitable to fulfill the need of everyone.

PROJECT Mecanoo answered to this quest with a focused analysis of the material and immaterial context: on one side the, the territory, and the necessity to affirm EIB as a functional and identifiable landmark in the dense panorama of Luxembourg institutions and offices. On the other hand, the necessity to complete an ideal EIB “campus”, and thus the connections with the EIB offices on site. From the analysis coherently emerges the design concept, articulated around two elements: a low horizontal volume that establishes a linear continuity with EKI building and completes the consistency of the street, in terms of visual and functions, and a tower, as a complimentary and distinct vertical gesture, explicating the mass below as elongated podium. Both represent in their own way a clear response to the need for integration and the necessity of recognisability.

The project faces the whole extension of the site, trying to integrate it with the surrounding sloped, natural landscape. Therefore, stepped, green terraces constitute the building side facing the park

The low building profile strengthens the verticality of the tower, marking it as a distinct “element” not only as the main entrance to the building, but more importantly as a landmark for the entire EIB campus

In the same way, a series of cvisual corridors pass thorugh the building and define atrium and external patios that facilitate views across the site towards the valley, weaving even more the green character of the adjacent landscape

EIB

European Investment Building

Main Entrance Foyer

Services ‘HUB’

Sports Center and Hall

One of the final visualizations of the Entrance Foyer.

From a blank slate condition we narrowed down the level of definition to the dimension of the single tile of the wall, the height and the disposition of the windows, the appearance of the bronze cover for the free-standing pillars. The challenge rose while defining the specificity of each case, preparing at the same time the scene for unpredictable variations, according to the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sometime discording feedbacks. The picture represents only the final stage of a broader design and materialization process.

The sports hall is another space of major intervention: the first step consisted in the redesign of the windows facing the inner basketball court, since massive clashes were happening between the former layout and the already updated structure.

n n e e , d

n , d

The entrance foyer constitutes the first task to which I was assigned. As one of the most representative spaces, major attention was needed for a numerous amount of matters, such proportions and the materialization of the different constitutive elements of this space: the monumental tiled walls that constitute the main feature and the background of the whole environment, the role with the free-standing pillars, the lateral windows, which frame the tiled wall from both sides.

One of the intermediate visualizations of the Sports Hall.

RIJNDAM REVALIDATIECENTRUM Rotterdam The Netherlands Healthcare

Design Development Facades studies

Mecanoo

In the constant need to renovate itself, persuing the most advanced therapies in order to provide the best in terms of care and effectiveness of the rehabilitation process, Rijndam Centrum seeks a global approach, affecting not only the methods, but the physical structure too. With the addition of new volumes capable to allow an overall reorganization of the rooms, the physiotherapy workshops and departments, and a more welcoming experience through the building.

Irregular pattern of lamellas

OPTION A

Regular rhythm of lamellas / tilted panels

OPTION B

Irregular rhythm ofTilted panles / alternated mesh/matte/glossy modules

OPTION C

First step of the studies, the comparison of three different facade systems. The key in the research was to provide verticality while containing costs, preserving the overall harmony.

PROJECT

Joining the team for a relatively short period, I was asked to produce quick studies in order to determinate the architectural language of the new additions. As the main architects were focused on the inner organization and layout of the floorplans, the facade were still requiring a decision to be made, and thus options to be confrontated and from which to decide.Once given few keywords to lead my investigation, such as verticality, maximized transparence and cost reductions, I produced several options confrontating different facade systems capable, in their rhythm and subdivision, to alternate fully transparent windows with opaque (glossy or matte) modules, while preserving the overall impression of a fully glazed volume.

In a second moment, my research had to figure out how to highlight the atrium in the rear of the building, currently disguised with the steady rhythm of the facade. Once again, three option, in order to provide a more coherent and cohesive expression to this space, in relation with the overall intervention affecting the Revalidatiecentrum.

Second step of the studies, possible opening on the rear of the building, in order to accentuate the Atrium.

vII

Wider window opening

vIII

Glazed atrium

Cantiliver addition

ACADEMIC

CHICAGO URBAN LAB Chicago Illinois, U.S.A.

Chair of Complex Project - TU Delft

Hybrid Buidling (Co-working/ Start up incubator)

Tutors:

Prof. Ir. Kees Kaan

O. Caso H. van der Meer

West Side Chicago struggles to be despite the shrinking dynamics of the eastern rich Downtown and the western wealthy Suburbs: reduced to nothing more than a border between these two realms, the possibility to carve in this leftover space a third strong urban fragment, as opposed and evolution of the two aforementioned, raise as a strong, solid challenge. A chance to reframe the role of the post-industrial periphery, the segregated ghetto, the desolate reflux of the urban sprawl.

CONCEPT

fr ag m entati o n

URBAN A XI S

CORRIDORS

l ack o f e co no m ic re s o u rce s

n o spac e sui table to work / produc e

a bs ence of connections / network

PRODUCTION SPACE

LIVING

GATHERING SPACE

SHARED FACILITIES

COLLECTIVE DIMENSION encouraging social encounters

inte r ne t acce s s

s ha red t ec hn o lo g i es

d es k / m eeti n g ro o m s

A N HUB O PEN TO THE SURROUNDING A S O C IA LLY THRIVING CIVIC SPACE A C ENTR E TO GATHER CREATIVES

CENTER

SLoane valve factory building I. Industrial building from the end XIXth century II. Exemple of Architecture from the Chicago School III- Only building left with sort of value in the area IV. Easily convertable in openspace offices/services

INCUBATOR

WORK SPACE RESEARCH

F A B - L A B

PROTO TYPING

START-UP

COWORKING

MEDIA labs

The design strives to create and enhance bottom-up opportunities, constituting a structured environment of organised services and facilities where individuals, creative and professionals get advantage of the provided tools and eventually gather together, developing ideas, forming start-ups, starting a major business. Therefore, the design aims for a second goal within the frame of a shared facilities hub: to promote connection, enhance cooperation, trigger new networks of social relations. Only the combination of the two aforementioned elements could led to a successful prosperous intervention.

WORKSHOP

a. Affordable spaces to provide cheap solutions for business

B. Structured services to reduce the burden of individually own service facilities

C. Encouraged synergies in order to rise, grow, retain creative thinkers

production spaces

The Coworking Principle

toolkit

collab or at ive connecte d ne t w or k

ZO NI N G AXIS

so l a r sh elter

+ 1 l evel + 1 le v e l + 1 l evel

+ 2 l evel s

III

Design Concept I. Plot mass cuss according to major urban axis and alignments II. Differentiation in height, for the Factory to become the focal point III. Unifying shelter/energetic device

urban lab proto-Gallery

urban lab start-up

urban lab research center

urban lab coworking

DWELLING BLOCK

II. Passage

III. Platform

IV. Island

A. Seats

A. Snake Street

A. Bakery Street

A. Meeting Time

B. Tables

B. Kitchen

B. ICT Bar

B. Event Patio

C Bookwall

C Arena

C Bookland

C Gaming Island

D. News Gallery

D. Terrace

D. Digital Room

D. Library

THE SPINE

WORK LAB

urban lab learning core

gathering spaces

I. Corridor

Northern Facade / Entrance

noitces dna sedacaf 002:1 elacs

baL nabru ehT 5P - ogacihC tcejorP xelpmoC atsoC enomiS

Section alongside the Spine

Floorplan - Ist level

facades and section scale 1:200

The urban Lab Complex Project Chicago - P5 Simone Costa

A AA

B BB

A' A'A'

DESIGN

B' B'B'

The Urban Lab in itselft consists in the appropriation of a former pre-existing vacant factory, the Sloan Valve Company Builfing, and its renovation in a co-working space thourgh the shared facilities that define the typology. But in order to foster the efficiency of the concept, the mobility, the circulation apparatus is no longer considered as a matter of stairs and hallways, as a wasted unprogrammed transitional space, but assumes its own architectural dignity as a proper coherent, complete, indipendent Value.

CC C

C'C' C'

Hereby is defined the Spine, a device structuring and connecting, therefore instrumental to let people meet and thourgh the services or the activities offered, create relations, sharing time and ideas. All the element are then combined in a unique, single identity, in order to fullfil that continuous, intrinsic web of relations and interaction

View of the western entrance of the Spine. The wooden organism of stairways and platform acts as a pervasive, porous and continuous circulation device, while enhancing dynamism and social encounters.

TECHNOLOGY -

w i n d-o w w w ii tn hd o8w m wm i tf hl o8a tm m f l o a t g l a s s + g 1l 4a smsm +c a1v4 i tmym + c a v i t y + 6 m m h e a6t -msmt rheegahtt- ns et dr e g h t n e d p r e s t r e sp sr ee ds tgrl easssse d+ g1 4l ams ms + 1 4 m m c a v i t y + c 6a vmi tm y s +a f6e tmym gslaafsest y g l a s i n a l u m i ni ni u am l pu rm oi nf i ul me p r o f i l e a n o d- y z e da naolduymz i en di u am l su hm ei ne itu m s h e e t

c l a d-d i n gc li na dp dr i encga isnt p r e c a s t c o n c r e t ec ounnci tr ewt ei t hu n i t w i t h h y d r o p h oh by idcri so ep dh osbui rc fi saecde s u r f a c e

1 2 0 m- m m1 i 2n 0e rmaml mf i bn re re a l f i b r e i n s u l a t i oi nns u l a t i o n

w a t e- r p r w o oa ft el rapyreoro f l a y e r

3 0 0 -m m r3e0i 0n f mo mr c re ed i n f o r c e d c o n c r e t ec op nacrraepteet p a r a p e t

v e r t i vc ae rl tsi ce ac tl i os ne c1t: 2i o0n 1 : 2 0

c r ocsrso s se c st ei co tn i o- nI I -I I I I s c a l e 1s: 2c 0a l e 1 : 2 0

T h e u r bT ah ne uL ar b a n L a b C o m p l e xC o Pm r opj leecxt PCrhoi jceacgt o C -h iPc 5a g o - P 5 S i m o n e C oS s ti m a one Costa

Due to the differentiations of the progressive interventions, the complex is solved with a structural renovation of the existing block through the reinforcement of the steel structure, while the side additions reveal in a more direct way the structural rhythm of the whole building with the ordered series of concrete pillars and prefabricated modular elements. The in-between system of stairs is based on a mostly independent steel frame structure, occasionally anchored on both the side facades when landing from the stairs is required.

dark polish aluminium sheet c o m p o s i t e p o ly m e r t r a n s o m s truss supporing structure with service for rood solar installations

curtain wall opening with 8 mm float glass + 14 mm cavity + 6 mm heatstreghtned prestressed glass + 14 mm cavity + 6 mm safety glass in aluminium profile

steel support

wood elevating substructure, with rockwool insulation (200 mm) and integrated sound barrier

gravel layer

plastic support

double bitumen sheating, external slide slated

anodyzed aluminium sheed

120 mm extruded expanded p o lys t y r e n e pa n e l

VAPOUR BARRIER

INCLINATION SCREED PREFAB SLAB CEILING

prefab hollow core concrete slab with cca t e e h s m ut ienei hm su lmau ihnsi mi luolpa k hrsai dl o p k- r a d s m o s n a rstm ro es mn ay lr ot p r e tm i ys lo op pm oe ct i s o p- m o c

lightweight soil 100 mm draining layer with root barrier

e r u t c u r et rs u gt nc iurrotpsp ug sn i er mo ap pr uf s e ce ma pa sr f e -c a p s r a l o s d or oa rl orso fd oeocri vrroe fs ehcti ivwr e s h t i w s n o i t a l ls an to si tn ai l l a t s n i

waterproof membrane 120 mm extruded expanded p o lys t y r e n e pa n e l reinforced vapour barrier 300 mm reinforced concrete ceiling

N I H S E M NC II LHLSAETME MC I L AL AN TR E MT X LE A N R -E T X E L E E T S S SL EE LE NT I SA TS SS E L N I A T S

E M A R F L E EM TASR FG NL I ET ERTOSP PG UN SI T R O -P P U S

r e y a l l er ve ay ra gl l e v- a r g

, g n i t a e h , sg nni et ma ue th isb neelmb uu to i db e l -b u o d d e t a l s ed de i tl as l ls a endri el ts x le a n r e t x e d e d n a p x de e d en da up rx te x de e md um r 0t 2x 1e m m- 0 2 1 l e n a p e nl ee rn ya tp s ey nl eo rp y t s y l o p

R E I R R A B RREUI OR PR A VB R U -O P A V

D E E R C S ND OE IETRACNSI LNCONI IT A N -I L C N I G N I L I E C BG AN LI LSI EBCA FB EA RL PS B A -F E R P

detail A

detail B

window with 8 mm float glass + 14 mm cavity + 6 mm heat-streghtned prestressed glass + 14 mm cavity + 6 mm safety glass in aluminium profile

anodyzed aluminium sheet

l l a w n i al tl ra uwc n i a -t r u c r e d a h s r e d- a h s

cladding in precast concrete unit with hydrophobicised surface

120 mm mineral fibre insulation

waterproof layer

300 mm reinforced concrete parapet

N I H S E M NC II LHLSAETME MC I L AL AN TR E MT X LE A N R -E T X E L E E T S S SL EE LE NT I SA TS SS E L N I A T S

m e t s y s mg ne itdsi yl s g n -i d i l s

etfe pneumatic cushions

rain gutter between the etfe cusions profiles

insulated waterpipe leading vertical downspout

supporting steel structure

d e t i m i l dh et ti wi m w i l o hd tn ii ww w o -d n i w m m 8 d n am me g8n ad nr ag ne ignneap ro g n i n e p o m m 4 1 +m sms a4 1l g +t as os la fl g t a o l f - t a e h m m- t 6a e+h ymtmi v 6a c+ y t i v a c d e s s e r t ds e sr sp e dr et ns te hr gp e dr et ns t h g e r t s y t i v a c my mt i v4 a1 c+ ms ms a4l 1g + s s a l g n i s s a l gn iy ts es fa al sg my tm e 6f a+s m m 6 + e l i f o r p emlui ifnoi rm pu lmau i n i m u l a

g n i r o o l fg nd i or oo wo l f d- o o w

90 mm screed underfloor heating/cooling system inpact sound insulation layer 3 0 m m e x pa n d e d p o lys t y r e n e insulation 300 mm reinforced concrete floor

h t o o m s hd tn ou o mr gs ,ddneue or rc gs , md me e 7r c s -m m 7 m e t s y s mg ne ittsayesh grnoi ot la fe rh e rd on ou l f r e d n u r e y a l g nr ietyaarla pg en si t da er taap re gs e dt en ti ahrt gi w etni htiw , e r u t c u r, et rs ub tu cs u gr nt istbauvse lg en i dt oa ov we l e d- o o w 0 0 2 ( n o i 0t 0a 2l (u sn no i i tlao lo uws kn ci olro oh wt ikwc o r h t i w r e i r r a b rdeni ur or sa bd ed tn au ro gs e dt en ti ad rn gae t) mn im d n a ) m m e t e r c n o ec t ee rr oc cn owc o el rl o ch w b ao fl el ro ph b a f e r p a c c h t i wa cbca lh st i w -b a l s

detail C

horizontal section 1:20

detail D

0 2 : 1 n0o2i :t1 c ne os i tl ca et sn ol zai tr no oh z i r o h

0 2 : 1 n0o2i :t1 c ne os i tl ca ec si t lr ae cv i t r e v

I I - I Idn e-o ti nta oci lietssc es s osrsco r c scale 1:5 0 2 : 1 e l0a2c :s1 e l a c s

T h e buarLb na anbbaLraLu bne ah bT r u e h T

Complex Project Chicago - P5 5 P - o g 5a P c i h- Co gt ca ec ji o h rCP t xc e lj p om r Po Cx e l p m o C Simone Costa a t s o C e n o amt isSo C e n o m i S

LIVING WITHIN THE GRID Chandigarh Punjab, India

Chair of Dwelling - TU Delft

Global Housing (Dwellings+commercial)

Tutors:

Prof. Ir. Dick Van Gameren

N. Mota T. Avermaete

Sector 34, the Capital Sub City Center. A scaled problematic synthesis of the intended Rigidity of the modernist town planning practice led by Le Corbusier. An inspiring mix of challenges for the formulation of effective reactions to extricate the sector, and in a broader scale the very city, from the nowadays Modernist impasse.

A rational INFRASTRUCTURE

CONCEPT Overlaying the Informal use and the ways of appropriations of the Formal space, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to draw a basic structure capable to develop new scenarios based on the logic of the pre-existing modernist axes, but metabolizing the seeds of spontaneous movement and of borders appropriation, direct expression of logics of Permeability and Porosity based on the genuine way the people live the territory. The Cartesian cross becomes nothing more than an instrument to allow this process to sprout all over the Sector. The result, a scheme made of crosses around which the Hybrids is grafted, is a place where formal/informal commercial areas enclose and define open spaces in succession of Public, Collective, Private, allowing all the realms to coexist while being Permeable. From the Cartesian Cross, where installations and structural support are rationally organized, room is left avalaible for four starting plot. Two enclosed courtyards are offered within the basic layout, but the flexibility of the scheme allows the dwelling to evolve, getting rid of pogram or courtyards, in order to upgrade the unit with new space, more rooms, mixing uses. A growth process which is allowed horizontally or vertically due to the design of the Core Cross and accessing pathways.

Design strategy schemes: A) Indivituation of the Grid B) Construction of the Cross Structure C) Definition of the predetermined plots D) Construction of the first Units E) Additions F) Final Layout

E for the germination of social housing

HYBRID Commercial + Residential Level 0

Phase I

Phase II

Phase III

Phase IV

Phase V

Phase VI

Level I

DWELLING - I One-storey apartment

Phase I

Phase II

Phase I

Phase II

Phase III

DWELLING - II Duplex apartment

Level 0

Level I

Phase IV

Structural / Services Cross axonometry, with detail over the air shafts, installations positioning and structural joints.

Dwelling units Matrix, The scheme represents all the possible additions performed over the lifespan of the dwelling, from the basic first module.

Phase III

DESIGN Built elements / dwelling units

A sense of integration is achieved following the direction suggested by the context. A first layer of commercial defines the boundaries of the cluster, harmoniously suggesting a continuity with the surrounding shopping galleries, but the variation in the typology of spaces is occasion to achieve diversification of activities, becoming a more structured opportunity for appropriation for the formal and informal seller. From each side of the new organism a system of stairs and platform gradually lead the inhabitants furthermore into the cluster, on top of the first layer of commercial stores. A patchwark of conncected courtyards is accessible from here, where all the dwelling are located and all of them are facing squares which dimensions and materialization give a feeling of collectiveness and protection.

unbuilt area / network of collective squares

Hierarchy of spaces scheme

The dwellings are set around the Cartesian Crosses, physical, structural, tangible core of the whole project: suggesting the Shakti, a propitious symbol in the Hindi culture, the units spread outwards defining the boundaries of the networked courtyards. Each one is the carved out leftover of the counterpart. A second layer of dwelling, on top of the first floor, is accessible with an open gallery.

Floorplan - Ist level

View of the passageway towards the inner courtyards. The system of stepped terraces and arches suggest the clustered presence of a more domestic dimension within the district. Neighboring windows and garden on the street level allow a more direct appropriation and control over the area by the residents

OVERHOEKS BOOMERANG Amsterdam The Netherlands Dutch Housing (Dwellings)

Chair of Dwelling - TU Delft

Prof. Ir. Dick Van Gameren

Tutors: P. Bakker Jacon van Rijs (MVRDV)

Alternatives and Icons. Could the stop imposed by economic crisis be an occasion to rethink the first decade of urban transformations in the emerging new millennium? May it be the proper momentum to inquire the idea of Monument, in a metropolis that is itself a uniform, massive, pervasive cenotaph of a past Golden Age, a condition perceived as something to be preserved, to be protected, to be left untouched?

Design Concept A) References and Grid B) Modules and Plot C) Volumes D) Layered Break E) Orientation and Views F) Cuts and Sunlight

CONCEPT

Creating an ORGANIC icon

The Strip awaits. Dominated by the Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;dam Tower, adorned with the brand new Eye Museum, the area is frozen in the ineluctable impasse of an existing plan and the lack of money or either interested investors. So, the possibility and the audacity to propose something different. The landmarks are taken as regulating modules for the new layout, in a sequence that suggests the sequential alternance of the surrounding. The volumes are then broken in multiple, stacked layers, where the gap becomes the excuse for a slight rotation of the upper bodies, granting visual continuity and balance in proximity. The configured Snake is therefore levelled down, in order to deliver better sights for everyone.

CONVENTIONAL ASSET

BOOMERANG CONCEPT

T c s t w t p t 3 d i t

H H t s o

S t n t i o m

P g c o i d p i a g

DESIGN

The project itself is narrowed to the architectural definition of the Block II, the second imaginary development plot of the new parade of volumes established with the Snake Masterplan. A project that starts with two plain parallelepipeds: the lower paralleling the road and the surrounding, the higher rotating of 30 degrees, catching better sight condition and daylight orientation while increasing the visual distance with the third block.

High-rise, high density, narrow spaces. How to create an iconic complex just trying to achieve the absence of obstructions and obstacles from the sight of the future dwellers.

Second in line, the building is only thirteen floors high. Directly facing and neighbouring the A-Lab Building and the Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;dam Tower, the design is strictly influenced by the stylistic expressions of the aforementioned valued monuments.

North-Eastern Facade

Progressive integration, contemporary growth and completion, in an overall architectural climax that penetrates, not overtake the surrounding, the new building proposes linear, geometric facades, where the module of the window, persistent in the Tower and in the Lab, is taken, combined, shifted, in order to achieve a composed dynamism, an elegant evolution of the past. Sout-Eastern Facade Floorplan - 4th level

THE (STRAIGHTENED) BOOMERANG UNITS: 52 APT AREA: 9 0 - 11 0 MQ

Here it is where the Boomerang arise. The necessity to fight the unpleasant condition given by the neighbouring lower blocks, the sense of constriction, the proximity and immediacy of the visual relation. And therefore, the need of “deviating”, of naturally “redirecting”. The apartment runs through the whole depth of the building, granting with the double facing equal, better light conditions despite their collocation in the building: in a conceptual chronology, its linear, parallelepiped shape is successively bent to resemble a “boomerang”, according to its orientation, in order to let the partition walls to create spontaneous, visual corridors towards clear spots. A simple rotation of 30 degrees for both the side is sufficient to achieve this task. Each unit in both the blocks is granted with a second level for programmatic versatility: as buffered access, or studio space for young independent professionals or co-workers, even as a new couple’s living room. If the layout allows flexibility in the target destination, still the polyvalent level constitutes the first sequential space of each dwelling, in every possible type or layout. Staggered hallways connect then each duplex to the main access core, and a side escape route in case of emergencies.

WORKING HOME PROFESSIONALS FAMILIES

Apartment scheme - Type II UPPER BLOCK

The dwellings responds to the Dutch tradition of joint, double level apartments, in order to deliver for every unit a south facing view. In the lower block, constricted by the neighbouring buildings, the dwellings are bent to orientate the sight towards the clear spots.

THE BOOMERANG UNITS: 40 APT AREA: 7 0 -9 0 MQ CAREER STARTERS / YOUNG URBAN PROFESSIONALS YOUNG ‘LIVING TOGETHER’ COUPLES

Apartment scheme - Type I LOWER BLOCK

INDUSTRIAL REFURB Torino Italy Housing / Civic building (Dwellings / Public centre)

Chair of Architecture and Technology- Poli.TO

I st Faculty of Architecture

Tutors:

A. Baietto

The struggling transformation of a former industrial city, lost in the grid of regulations and prescriptions, aiming towards a sensational, striking novelty while regretting the progressively lost identity of a past forever gone. An intangible tension, permeating the old working neighbourhood, where the glorious factories of the last century flounder in a non-sense speculation of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;70s and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s. A puzzle of unconsidered qualities and overwhelming uselessness. A challenge to restore dignity. Identity.

CONCEPT

A first, needed step additions and impos former Factory is int mation encoded by residential on one other, plus a buffer z thus automatically d

FA C

RE WA OUSES I T

I VA

ICE

O SIT WRO D E P O S / SHO

OFF

PUBLIC

I VA

In such a tense bu for new proposition only “suggested”… T for the block, base f the whole area, wit against the enclosin blic space, a collec domain.

II.

ENT

CIVI

V E RT ICAL

PA R K

IV.

Design Concept I. Definition of the Values II III. Definition Mass and Void

LLIN

E DW

E DW III.

Creating a multip

Design Concept Different planned implementa

purpose, unique STRUCTURING element

p: clearing the way out of the disturbing sitions of the past four decades. Only the tentionally saved in a process of transforthe Municipality itself. Two areas, private side, collective, public functions on the zone and height regulations. Volumes are defined by the land zoning register.

A. Bare structure of the Frame

ut needed net of rules, the need arises ns. What if the given, static volumes are Transparency as a conceptual key, frame for its architecture. A structured web for th â&#x20AC;&#x153;opennessâ&#x20AC;? as counteracted omission ng wall, where the former identifies a puctive dimension, and the latter a private

I. Prescription and Land Use ds IV. View cuts and urban reconnections

ation of the functions through the frame

B. Frame in its differentaited use

Street view of the southern Inner Gate. The renovated factory building on the right informs the structural rhytm and the architectural expression of the new buildings on the sides, while the metallic frame connects everything as a unique whole.

DESIGN Lofts and apartment building in the private investor, Vertical Park and Cultural Centre for the public sector. A duality defined in terms of property, program and typology. With a constant concept, as a design key: the radicalization of the theme, the involvement taken to its extreme. If the Lofts in the former Factory building represents a new generation of apartments and dwelling experience in the urban scenario of Turin, the public spaces undergoes the same climax. The collective novelty is exploited by the vertical organism of the Steel Garden, but the peak is reached by the symbiotic Centre. Imagined as a continuum system with the macestructured park, it represents its â&#x20AC;&#x153;indoor areaâ&#x20AC;?, a protected environment for those activities needing a shelter or proper installations. Therefore, its interior keeps an open configuration, with green island, paths and glades, becoming more a natural garden then the Park itself, and where huts are displaced with the instruments belonging to the designed target or destination. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meant to be a covered park of tiny happenings, a cultural Factory of daily intellectual actions.

Floorplan - 2nd level

TECHNOLOGY

The pre-existing Factory undergoes a substantial inner transformation, with the installation of internal insulating finishing and partitioning walls, in order to prepare the building for its new purpose. The exterior express this process with the restoration of the facades, freed from outdated, alien addition and brought back to their original appearance. The positioning of a Corten coating all over the base gives a contemporary feeling while protecting the lower level of the building from the daily urban wear and tear. The intervention is finally completed with the creation of a green roof and a solar pergola aimed to collect, store and reuse rainwater plus electric and thermal energy.

Technological detailing 1:20

COMPETITION

U_BOX

unconventional hotel

Non-Architecture - Sleeping series Finalist

U_Box is a collection of three independent inhabitable booths, modulated in size and differentiated in services in order to fit the basic function of sleeping, no matter the target, location or ownership. The concept attempts to define a series of generic objects, which only purpose is to serve as enclosed, secured place where the individual(s) is enabled to rest.

CONCEPT The procedure is simple: the generic box could be programmed for short stays (1 night) or longer periods (up to the week) and be accessible with a mobile app that interacts with the U_box smart-lock. No reservation, no bookings are required, as the potential users can approach the Box with their smart device in order to access it and inhabit it whenever they feel the need. The external illumination emphasizes the structure availability to host, turning its outdoor lights off once occupied by users or while undergoing maintenance: a logic intended to interpret the suggestion of an urban lighthouse, as a beacon to guide the traveller towards a place where to feel safe and sleep. Beside the lights, the booth external covering plays a role in highlighting the durability of the allowed permanence within the encountered box: the basic unit stands for short stays; the external steel frame covered with fabric points out the possibility to use the structure for more days, providing an aesthetic differentiation and a clear, immediate communication with the users.

U_Box is conceived, as mentioned, to be a generic object. It consists in a simple wooden booth covered with white, semitranpsparent plastic panels. With its neutrality, it could fit a public square, a passage, a park, a private garden or a building roof. An initiative aimed to deliver unconventional room in unprecendented city places, as result of a public initiative or as the opportunity for a private to establish in its estate an extra but independent space for common guests or detached Airbnb and any couchsurfing initiatives. It is meant to be an instrument as much valuable for the institution as for the individual: the first offering an organized system of certified, public accommodations, the second as constitutive part of a widespread, porous network of private hospitality.