T2 House / Antonio Ravalli Architetti

Sep 2010

Uploaded by Nico Saieh — Filed under: Houses ,Selected , Antonio Ravalli Architetti, Copper, Italy, Wood

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Architects: Antonio Ravalli Architetti
Location: Ferrara, Italy
Project Team: Antonio Ravalli, Simone Pelliconi, Mauro Crepaldi, Giuseppe Crispino, Valentina Milani, Lorenzo Masini
Project Area: 110 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Antonio Ravalli Architetti

Conditions

A small triangular area
100 m2 of building capacity
A conspicuous, even though not valuable, presence of trees
A strongly reduced investment possibility
A client who balances his life between Italia and Africa, where he deals with active cooperation

floor plan

This leads to the idea of interbreeding the performance characteristics and the intrinsic qualities of Western buildings with the craftiness and simplicity (and thus the cheapness) of African ones.

A self-building system is chosen, though it’s a high performance one, especially under energetic aspects.

Program

The choice of a simple, light and cheap technology: wood. Fir laminated timber beams and OSB panels
The trees (with their shadow, and thus coolness) generate the house geometry, which remains anyway simple and Cartesian
The methods with which roots are cutted and looked after establish the proximity of the building to the greenery which surrounds and covers it
The falling of the leaves on the building determines the roof geometry
Gutters can’t be used
The exact position of the broad-leaved trees determines the place of the openings in order to obtain shading in summer and a positive greenhouse effect in winter
The adopted materials are reduced so as to avoid to teach the client how to work with new technologies

Technologies

A brick-blocks structure conceived as two counterposed C constitutes the spine of the house and ensures its earthquake-proof performances
The copper covering envelopes the whole building defining the interface with the contiguous vegetation
The structural frames, made of laminated timber beams, fit their pace on the panels dimension; less waste, more saving
The glazed surfaces use the vertical beams in place of the window frames, with the help of structural silicone glue and glass clamps
The winter thermal response is optimized by a combination of a programmable fireplace with forced airflow exchanger, together with a continuous thermal insulation realized with a ventilated reflecting mattress, used in aerospace engineering (there’s anyway, in reserve, a more traditional methane boiler combined with a radiant floor heat panels system)
The ‘Rothoblaas’ patent permits to joint all the pieces of the timber structure with simple patented screws

structure axo

Project drawings look closer to IKEA instructions rather than classic working ones.

The most powerful screwdriver available is bought on e-bay.

The works begin.

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: © Antonio Ravalli Architetti

: floor plan

: elevations

: section

: structure axo

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Cite:
Saieh , Nico . "T2 House / Antonio Ravalli Architetti" 23 Sep 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 26 May 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/78733>

Comments (8)
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pathos says:

Clean lines, economical, honest, and with soul. I dig it.

# September 23, 2010 at 12:19

Katsudon says:

I follow you on this comment.

# September 25, 2010 at 00:06

j says:

i see a lot of these projects using this chip board in the interior.is it at least clear coated,there is an awful lot of pharmadeahyde(sorry bout the spelling)in this type of wood to preserve it.they should at least clear coat it to seal it.beautiful design.simple.good proportions.useful.

# September 23, 2010 at 12:37

Nom_de_Guerre says:

Although I personally don’t feel much of a connection with the particulars of the design I think this is a very good example of low-cost, high-quality architecture.

The structural solution is as simple as ingenious and I really hope good architecture gets as accessible and easy as Ikea furniture (without the low durability ;).

# September 23, 2010 at 12:43

Chris says: