After two years in waiting, Porta Volta, the project by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron to redevelop Milan's north-western Spanish gate, has finally broken ground. The project, which spurred some controversy when architect and critic Vittorio Gregotti accused the Swiss-led project of being an act of “architectural colonialism,” is nevertheless scheduled to be completed in 2015.
SANAA has just unveiled their plans for the Bocconi University Campus in Milan, Italy. The design features various undulating structures, forming connective inner courtyards, that wind their way across a 17,500 square meter green space open to both students and neighborhood residents.
According to Paola Nicolin, a professor at Bocconi and writer for Domus, the University is a "playground" for the imagination, using "non-hierarchic compositional elements" to establish a relationship between the campus' organic forms and the human lives which inhabit it. In Nicolin's words, the project "speaks of transparency, empathy for nature, and far-sightedness."
More images and info on the project, after the break...
On display until February 3rd at the HangarBicocca in Milan, the ‘On Space Time Foam’ suspended art exhibit by Studio Tomas Saraceno is composed of a transparent surface accessible to visitors, hanging at a height of 20 metres and covering 400 square metres on three layers, for a total of 1,200 square metres. Known for his surprising structures that draw the public into extraordinary spatial and emotional experiences, the large soft and floating film welcomes visitors who will thus find themselves moving mid-air between the floor and the ceiling, earth and sky, and it compels them to lose their spatial coordinates. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Opening up September 4 at 5pm with a lecture by 2012 Pritzker Prize Winner, architect Wang Shu, the exhibition of projects of Chinese architects focuses on the theoretical research on architecture and design as well as building practice currently found fertile ground in any contemporary China but particularly in the city of Shanghai. Organized by La Triennale of Milan and the Degree Course in Engineering/Architecture from the University of Pavia, yhe center of the debate will be on urban development and architecture thanks to the cultural milieu linked to Tongji University. More information on the exhibition after the break.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
