‘Quattro Punti per una Torre’ Installation / Massimo Iosa Ghini
The idea of the Quattro Punti per una Torre installation, designed by Massimo Iosa Ghini for FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti, is to use the primordial monolith, the whole massive block of stone material. In collaboration with Iguzzini, Tecnovision, and Faraonea, the project at the University of Milan represents produced architecture and sculptures from time immemorial, repeated through the use of the large-sized ceramic slab with a finish that draws inspiration from the quarry stone. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Citylife Tower / Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei
Designed by Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, the Citylife Tower represents the future business and shopping district of CityLife in Milan (a subsidiary company of the Generali Group and in which Allianz has a shareholding), which is progressing quickly. By 2015 it will reach a height of 207 meters, with 50 floors of offices, and will be the tallest skyscraper in Italy. The foundation bed, which has just been built, is formed of a continuous block of concrete covering a total of 4,260 cubic meters and required 42 hours of continuous work. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Competition Proposal for the Architecture Service Expo 2015 / Ternulomello + Nuno Marcos
Inspired by the theme of Expo 2015 – “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” – the idea behind the design by Ternulomello + Nuno Marcos of recreating a greenhouse for the Service Areas seemed natural and spontaneous This construction method reminded them of the Crystal Palace, designed and built for the 1851 Universal Exhibition in London. The intervention is based on the application of passive technologies, to achieve a complete identification between energetic device and structure. Thermo-hygrometric comfort is achieved through natural ventilation, natural lighting and selective shading. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Tadao Ando Architecture Exhibition
Curated by the Tadao Ando Architect & Associates studio, an exhibition dedicated to Tadao Ando’s last ten museum projects will be held at the Duvetica Store and Showroom in Milan April 17-22. The projects, realized between Europe and Japan over a period stretching from the mid-1990s until 2010, will be presented through a large selection of drawings, models, videos and photos. The event will be held in the building that was the Japanese architect’s latest project in Europe, the Duvetica Store and Showroom in Milan, opened in October 2011 and comprising a vast open space and a showroom below the store, both measuring 220 square meters. More images and information on the exhibition after the break.
Zumbini / Binocle
After co-founding studiometrico, Italian architect, Lorenzo Bini, has recently opened a new architectural firm in Milan entitled Binocle. Bini takes his creativity displayed in his Bastard flagship store in Milan (the converted cinema received the coveted ArchDaily Building of the Year Award for Interiors in 2009), to a different level with this transformed reuse project for offices in Via Zumbini, Milan. The project includes a complete overhaul of an existing industrial building from the 1930s and the construction of a new entity to create 17 units of 100 and 150 sqm available for small practices in search of a workplace.
Architectural design: BINOCLE / Lorenzo Bini
Collaborators: Claudia Brunelli, Valentina Cocco, Michela Fancello, Sandro Riscino
Consultants: Gennaro Postiglione
Location: Via Bonaventura Zumbini 29, Milan
Year: 2008-2011
Client: Immobiliare del Nord S.p.a.
Structural design: Atleier LC
Lighting design: Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design
Project area: 1.350 sqm
GSA: 1.900 sqm
Photographs: Giovanna Silva
On-site photographers: Iacopo Boccalari, Francesca Pozzi, Carla Vitali
In Progress: Bosco Verticale / Boeri Studio
Bosco Verticale, by Boeri Studio (now recognized as Barreca & La Varra and Stefano Boeri Architetti), is a high-density tower block that experiments with the integration of a lush landscape within the facade of the architecture. The Vertical Forest, currently in construction in Milan, Italy, deal with the concept of regenerating the lost forests on the ground within the inhabitable space of buildings. The towers are 80 metres and 112 metres tall. Together they will have the capacity to hold 480 big and medium sized trees, 250 small size trees, 11,000 groundcover plants and 5,000 shrubs – the equivalent of a hectare of forest. For more on this project, follow us after the break.
Architects: Boeri Studio (Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca, Giovanni La Varra)
Location: Milan, Italy
Design Phase: 2006 – 2008
Construction Phase: 2008 – 2013
Zenale Building Renovation / FTA
Architects: Filippo Taidelli Architetto (FTA)
Location: Milan, Italy
Program: Building renovation
Client: Immobiliare Zenale
Size: 2.500 sqm
Budget: € 4.000.000
Partners: Arch. Piero Castellini Baldissera
Consultants: Manens Intertecnica S.r.l., Enco Engeneering Consulting, S. Sesana, Studio Tre, Falegnameria Ori e Bonetti, LDW Lighting Design Workshop
Photographs: Courtesy of Filippo Taidelli Architetto
Sustainable Residential Complex / Morfearch
The aim of the sustainable residential complex, designed by Morfearch, is not only the production of new buildings able to satisfy living space requests, but the will to offer public services to the new settlement and open to the “outer” population. The project area, crossed north to south by divergent paths, generates trapezoidal spaces that become the generating principle of the different parts of the whole complex: every secondary parcel is indeed composed by different size tanks, 30 to 120cm high, open to different uses, materials, and patterns: green areas, water, paved spaces, vegetation and gardens, available for residents with a leisure, but also social, function. More images and architects’ description after the break.
European Winners of Holcim Awards Competition Announced in Milan
The Holcim Award winners for Europe were recently announced in Milan for sustainable place making and materials innovation. The Holcim Awards Gold 2011 for Europe and USD 100,000 was awarded to German architects realities united for a project on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Museuminsel in the heart of Berlin. The Flussbad urban plan will remediate an area rich in cultural heritage by transforming an under-utilized arm of the River Spree into a natural 745m-long “swimming pool”. The project will form a swimming zone equivalent to 17 Olympic-sized pools – and directly improve the quality of urban life and the ecology of the waterway. More information on the awards after the break.
Zona K / Pietro Bagnoli + Franco Taglibue (ifdesign)
Architects: Pietro Bagnoli + Franco Taglibue (ifdesign)
Location: Milan, Italy
Consultants: Luca Leo, Stefano Gervasi, Diego Borroni, Guido Scavini
Graphic Design: Fabiano Cocozza
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 320 sqm
Photographs: Andrea Martiradonna, Pietro Bagnoli
AD Classics: Torre Velasca / BBPR
Mixed in with the Gothic Cathedrals, buildings, sculptures and domes of Milan, the Torre Velasca stands out as one of the few modern buildings in the city’s ancient center. The Torre Velasca, planned to loom over its surrounding structures at a height of nearly 1,000 meters, was to be an important addition to Milan’s skyline. For this reason, it was crucial that the architects, BBPR, find ways to blend the design of the Torre Velasca, completed in 1958, with that of the classic architectural beauties of historic Milan. More on the design of the Torre Velasca after the break.
Eagle Nest Hut Proposal / Piero Ceratti
Architect Piero Ceratti shared with us his concept design, titled ‘Eagle Nest Hut’, for a mountain hut/shelter powered by wind turbines. This alpine hut can be installed in very extreme sites while minimizing the point of contact with the rocky ground. More images and architects’ description after the break.
New EDI Headquarters / tiarstudio + RMA
Architects: tiarstudio / Federico Florena, RMA / Roberto Murgia
Location: Milan, Italy
Client: Effetti Digitali Italiani
Structural Engineer: EncoCrema
Light Design: Rossi Bianchi Lighting Design
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 950 sqm
Photographs: Francesco Jodice
Milanofiori Housing Complex / OBR
Architects: OBR
Location: Milan, Italy
Project Area: 27,400 sqm
Photographs: Marco introini, Mariela Apollonio, Maurizio Bianchi
SPEDstudio’s second prize for Casa della Memoria Design Competition
SPEDstudio has won second place for the Casa della Memoria Design Competition in Milan, Italy. Casa della Memoria, with an area of 185.80 sqm, will house the headquarters of some of the associations involved in the preservation and dissemination of “memory” of the conquest of freedom and democracy in Italy, as well as multi-purpose areas and exhibitions.
Nebula / Cecil Balmond
Architects: Balmond Studio – Cecil Balmond
Location: Milan, Italy
Project year: 2011
Photographs: Germano Borrelli, Nicola Vascellari
Toshiba Milano Salone / Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane
Architects: Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane
Location: Milan, Italy
Project area: 534 sqm
Project year: 2010 – 2011
Photographs: Francesco Niki Takehiko, Daici Ano
The Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel & Conference Centre / King Roselli Architetti
Architects: King Roselli Architetti – Riccardo Roselli
Location: Milan, Italy
Project Architect: Arianna Nobile
Interior Design: Daniele Del Prete
Design Team: Andrea Ricci, Mario Augusti, Katia Scarioni, Giandomenico Florio, Fabrizio Bonatti
Landscape: Dana Vocino
Consultant: Federica Pistola, Andrea Imbrenda
Client: DEC
Project area: 50,000 sqm
Photographs: Santi Caleca
Video: Design Week in Milan
Vítor Gabriel shared us showing experimental installations that mix micro-architectures or macro-objects created by international designers during the Design Week that took place at Milan from April 11 to April 17. Enjoy it!
New Furniture Designs for Sawaya & Moroni / Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Dominique Perrault
Revealed earlier this month in Milan, Sawaya & Moroni‘s New Collection 2011 includes pieces from high profile architects Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, and Dominique Perrault. William Sawaya and Paolo Moroni, founding partners of Sawaya & Moroni, focus the production of their furniture on contemporary designs intertwined with differing cultural backgrounds, resulting in unique pieces and a selective group of architects and artists.
Ben van Berkel of UNStudio also presented new furniture this month in Milan.
More about the chairs after the break.
New Seating Designs for Milan / UNStudio
This year, I Saloni of Milan will be celebrating its 50th year! The cultural institution has grown dramatically over the years from an initial 328 exhibitors featured in 11,000 square meters to over 2,500 in an area now measuring over 200,000 square meters. The Salone Internazionale del Mobile is almost here and several architects will be presenting new furniture. Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has shared three new seating designs that will be featured this month: My Lounge Chair for Walter Knoll, the New Amsterdam Chair for Wilde+Spieth and the SitTable for PROOFF. “The architectural approach to furniture is different from that of the industrial designer as the architect begins with the space and the environment that the chair will become a part of. All the details of the chair are considered for their spatial effects. This architectural approach to furniture is connected to a very personal ideology of space,” explained Ben van Berkel.
More about the chairs after the break.
