CONTENTS

#01 • DUNESCAPE

Smallest architecture, exploiting turbulance

Academic · 2023

A self-burying house that uses its inclined roof to deflect wind in order to control processes of accumulation of local sand particles. Through time, a covering sand dune affects the level of enclosure, transparency of the house and patterns of the shadows’ internal spaces.

The houses proliferation aims to create an uninterrupted chain of sand dunes which will decrease the coastal erosion on the site and help to rise the amount of native vegetation.

Concept

A perpetual device that create turbulent flows thanks to an array of water pumps, visualized by rice projecting shadows down onto a grid of light sensors. Different sensors activate different programmes. This is how me and two team mates started the project, that lead us to exploit the energy of turbulence to achieve our goals.

01 Sand Experiment

Studying the behaviour of sand was crucial to create a script that could simulate it precisely, giving us meaningful results.

02 Sand Simulation

03 Generative Optimization 04 Optimal Solution

Stoppers amount: 7 # | Height: 15 cm

Sand volume: 1.92 m³

Uncovered area: 2.46 %

Distribution index: 0.04 i

Material usage: 19.46 m²

Sunlight analysis:

Summer:

Avg direct sun - 21/6: 6.83 h

Winter:

Avg direct sun - 21/12: 8.33 h

#02 • DIGITAL WOODCRAFT Planarizing double curvatures

Academic · 2023

With this project, our team composed by 3 members wanted to explore the unique properties of timber and the advantages of digital tools, enabling us to work with complex geometries. The leaf became an inspiration as we decided to aim for an organic and flowing shapes that will blend seamlessly into the surrounding nature.

A script was developed in order to divide the 3 double curvature beams into 3 planar sections each, making the fabrication process easier and faster.

We analysed the curvature of each sections in order to in order to understand the thickness of the lamellas that will than compose the bend gluelam.

The second degree of freedom to make the beam looks like double curvature is given by the shape of the joints.

JOINTS

Gluelam And Jigs

1. Milling jigs

2. Glueing

3. Bending Milling bending jigs

An up-cycled wooden plate was used to CNC 18 components in order to create the 9 jigs

Making lamellas

160 lamella units

490x16x2mm

Preparations

Taping sides to prevent the beams from being glued inside the jigs.

Applying glue

Uniformly spread white glue on the lamellas excluding the top layer

Stacking

We stacked 15 lamellas on top of each other

Bending beams

We inserted the stacked lamellas into the jig.

Clamping the jig

The jigs were closed with clamps that would be removed after screwing top bottom sides.

Milling Joints

4. Setup

5. Milling

6. Flipping

7. Milling again

Preparation of beams

After the glue had dried overnight we sawed off the ends of the moulds

CNC setup

We made a 90 degree angle where the zero is placed precisely in the corner

Fixing of the

beam

The beam was fixed into the milled corner and fastened to the table with three screws

Milling corner side

First the close side was milled

Milling far side

Then the far side was milled

Flipping the jig

The jig was flipped, and milled on the other side. Milling joints complete.

Milling ground joints

The ground joints were also milled

#03 • TORRE VAIA

A mass-timber structure in Milan

Professional · Signo · 2021

The client asked Signo’s firm to renovate an existing building and to design a new one in the same area, located in the centre of Milan.

My role, other than designing and the various operative tasks, was to coordinate our team composed of 4 members, as well as the rest of the different professionals involved in such a big project, always being the intermediary with the chief architect, arch. Ripamonti.

All the renders, illustrations and drawings here presented have been made mostly by myself.

“An innate and genetically determined affinity of human beings with the natural world.”

E. O.

#04 • VIRTUAL TOUR

Digital interactive and immersive experiences

Professional · Signo · 2021

Signo’s Virtual Tour promotes business, spaces and products in original, immersive and interactive experiences, which link together real environments with those of pure fantasy through an exciting storytelling reviewed in a completely modern way. People are the protagonists of their exploration. They are at the centre of the tour, which offers them freedom of choice and fruition, while allowing them to overcome physical distances thanks to technology.

In particular, I developed this project supervising a team composed of 3 members, to explain the 30 years of history and values of MM Design, an award-winning product design studio.

The visitor is welcome from an avatar, that will assist him throughout the entire visit, with animations and suggestions.

After a brief show, appears on the screen the arrow that leads the visitor to a guided tour inside MM Design world, starting from the agorà.

1 2 3 4 5 6

The visitor then enter the history tunnel, where the most iconic products are shown. The arrival is the studio, from where is possible to discover the other sectors.

Delightful

Disruptive

Virtual Tour For Products

Companies can present their products in a digital way, thus showing technical and functional details through animations, technical sheets, videos and interactions.

Depending on the type of products to show, we’ve included different type of informations and actions that the user can make.

Virtual Tour For Architecture

Combining architectural design skills with those specific to real time application development, we can promote spaces and architectures placing the user at the center of the environment.

Not only he can better understand what’s surrounding him, but he can also chose among different configurations and materials. This is made possible thanks to Unity and a bit of coding.

In this case an already defined projects has been transformed into an interactive one that is possible to freely explore online and can be easily integrated on a website.

To develop our virtual tours we used a cross-platform game engine called Unity.

Unity is where you create the interactions, but many other skills are needed, since a virtual experience include textured 3D models, videos, images, sounds, animations, user interface, coding, programming for optimization, etc.

#05 • PLAYWOOD

The great Kemeri bog visitor centre

Academic · 2019

Playwood is the thesis developed as a conclusion of my Master course in Architectural Engineering, done together with a course mate. Here presented are the parts done mostly by myself.

The project want to mediate between an untouched nature and the needs of the contemporary society, designing a visitor centre as an entry point for Kemeri National Park, located in Latvia.

Visitors are guided towards the Kemeri board walk, through a playful use of veneer elements recalling the shape of two fallen hollowed logs. The articulated, yet simple structure strength those feelings given by the randomness and complexity of the trees, combining transparency and opacity.

GENERATION

1. Main Traffic

3. Split functions

5. Terraces

Public space

SOUTH/EAST ELEVATION

Functions

ticket counter infopoint and exhibition space gallery toilette showers café kitchen changing room technical room terraces

The building offers simultaneously a panoramic view and its framed fragmentation. It does so by placing row of thin Latvian plywood elements, created combining a unique interlocking technique and the nowadays technology. These frames support the envelope, that is protecting the internal spaces, yet leaving you outside, like what the branches does into the woodland. The visitor keep in touch with the forest, yet enjoying the internal facilities.

Parametric Design

Plywood

Wood Fibreboard

Reclaimed Wooden Shingle

Industrial Flooring Parquet

Most of the pieces present different shapes, therefore was necessary the use of a graphical algorithm editor,Grasshopper

A unique serial number is than assigned to each piece for an organized construction process, for maintenance, and in case, replacement.

#06 • KAWAUCHI

Winery pavilion, Veneer House system

Professional · KMDW · 2018

Pavilion overlooking a winery in Kawauchi-ko, Fukushima area. After the Tsunami hit Japan in 2011, the 2nd worst nuclear accident in the history happened. In an effort to help people in difficulties, arch. Hiroto Kobayashi developed a construction system inspired by Japanese traditions, called ‘Veneer House’. The system aim to be affordable, fast and easy to build.

Since its lightweight, a solid element to be fixed to is needed, so a concrete plate has been poured in place. Meanwhile the pieces has been cut with a CNC router, sanded and stored. A pragmatic order was important, so that they could have been brought on site accordingly to the assembling phase and to avoid any missing piece.

The system employs joints with wedges, that enables perpendicular connections of separate pieces without any hardware like nails or screws and yields a smooth exterior surface.

The insulation, is integrated in the system: the secondary horizontal structure leave a gap from the cladding panel, which is filled with a pre-cut folded stripe of bubble wrap. Detailing played a central role, not only to assure comfort but also to protect the plywood itself.

“The 3.8 x 3.8 x 3.8 m symbolic cube composed of a checkered pattern surfaces overlooks the vast vineyard.From here, visitors can take in the view and watch the village’s new industry grow.”

- H. Kobayashi

#07 • LINKED VIEWS

Scrolling around city and surrounding of Trento

Artistic · 2019

A passion of mine has always been drawing and painting on walls, thus allowed me to travel 6 months around Asia paying for food and accommodations with murals. However, also when I go back to my home town, Trento, I love to discover new views, enjoying them while sketching.

I drawn the first sketch in this pages from the east side of the city, behind the castle of Buonconsiglio. The second one instead, is the opposite view, from the other side of the valley, from a village just above the city. The dots indicate were the other sketch was done, connecting them.