Acciaio Arte Architettura | English Version » ARCHIVES

THE TOWER AND STEEL

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:15:29 +0000

It is not by chance that tower buildings, skyscrapers, were born and developed thanks to the increasingly widespread and refined use this iron-carbon alloy. From Sullivan to Mies van der Rohe, from Burnham to to Johnson, from the Chicago School to the skyscrapers of New York, this architectural style has developed without pause, giving increasing importance to its modern character. It is this modernity, this union between the tower and steel, which the architectural work of Furlan, Jansen and Bagnasacco refers to and was inspired by for construction in Collegno in the province of Turin. Transparent architecture, diaphanous, that visually relates with a landscape that oscillates between the typical industrial appearance of large urban production areas and the uncontaminated areas of the natural agricultural land around the Dora Riparia. In this building, the union between steel and glass reaches such high levels of symbiosis that the weight of matter of a building that covers an area of 950 sq.mt. and which is five storeys high, completely disappears. Light, through reflection and refraction, plays a decisive role in creating spatial and scenographic effects, creating constantly changing emotions in the spirit of those people who have to frequent places that are normally anonymous, like office blocks. These suggestions have without doubt conditioned and guided the planning choices of the group of experts called upon for the design and construction of a complex formed of two buildings, the office tower and restaurant, which characterise the creation of a pedestrian square which will become the fundamental element in the urban reorganisation plan for the new industrial area.
Steel, fundamental element in this project, with is shining splendour seems to remind us that in the future of new architectural creations its use will become increasingly indispensable. The lightness and changing colour effects of its structure can, once again, fascinate anyone with a spirit that is sensitive to beauty.

By Manuele Elia Marano (”Acciaio Arte Architettura” n. 14)
Project: Edificio a torre per uffici
Location: Collegno, Torino
Design: Arch. V. Frlan, M. Jansen, C. Bagnasacco
Time of construction: 2000-2002
Photographs: Daniele Regis, Lior Sholomo, Maarten Jansen

CHICKEN POINT CABIN

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:11:10 +0000

The frames have been completely rethought here, throwing aside conventional design ideas: for example, the entrance door which runs the full height of the building and is slightly rotated on its axis to give an east-west passage – once you pass through it – that creates a scenographic frame to the linear stairway to the top floor. The use of steel for the large door and its hinges was indispensible to guarantee the necessary stability and strength to the door.
A series of windows runs around the entire building just below the roof, which, when it is evening and the lights are all on, creates a distinct line of light that the roof seems to be detached from as if it is floating.
There is then the intuition, imagination and genius of having transformed the southern wall into a single large frame (30ft x 20ft, or 9.14m x 6.09m). However it is not a traditional facade with an opening, but a wall which, thanks to the large steel frame and a special moving system, fully opens and lets in all the light and air and, once it is closed, gives excellent safety, heat and sound insulation.
The movement mechanism for the door is the result of an ingenious system of pulleys, reducers and force deviators which is entirely on view.
The outer box of the building is formed of concrete blocks; the greater part of the curtain walls are made from plywood panels. The large central steel chimney is clearly visible on the axonometric plane and both figuratively and physically is the hinge that unites all the building components.
The materials used (cement, steel, plywood) all require a minimum amount of maintenance as further support to the vocation of this “refuge-home”, which is only occasionally used and is left empty for long periods, which is both comfortable and spartan and fits in naturally with its environment, seemingly having taken on the patina of passing time that transforms but never destroys.

By Marina Cescon (”Acciaio Arte Architettura” n. 42)

Project: Chicken Point Cabin
Client: private
Location: Northern Idaho, USA
Architect: Olson Kunding Architects
Project team: Tom Kundig, FAIA, design principal; Steven Rainville, project architect; Debbie Kennedy, interior designer
Consultants: Turner Exhibits; Monte Clark Engineering; Moser Inc.
Craftspeople: All New Glass; Star Steel; Steve Clark
Contractor: MC Construction
Photographs: Benjamin Benschneider

STEEL CURTAIN BETWEEN REALITY AND MAGIC

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:34:32 +0000

The Nebuta Festival is one of the most important in Japan, and is a narration when the mythical heroes, demons and animals are reborn in powerful lantern sculptures of rice paper and light, which parade through the town to reawaken the spirit of the townspeople, which is slumbering due to the heat.
The building was designed by the Canadian firm Molo Design, and is a house for these mythological figures, to ensure that this unique art and culture are handed down to the future generations.
The building looks like a vibrating tent at the end of the street on the Aomori waterfront, like a curtain separating reality and myth.
820 strips of red steel (to recall and pay tribute to the traditional production of items in sealing wax), standing 12 meters tall delicately embrace the perimeter of this impressive glass and steel structure. Given the specific nature of the port area, the architects realized right away that a lightweight structure was needed, hence glass and steel, that was placed on piles that are deeply buried in the ground.
Designed using physical models and entirely hand made by expert craftspeople, the strips that hide the structure give extra protection from the very cold winter and hot summer temperatures.
Each strip is bent slightly differently from the others but with a totally harmonious and unified effect. This has created different colour effects and plays of light during the day. These bends have also recreated the corridors around the perimeter, where visitors can enter the museum.
Inspired by the vertical models of light and shade in the primordial beech forest around Aomori, this house protects and conserves the delicate paper sculptures.
The Nebuta are creatures of light, who live in shady places where they float in the dark. This is the place of imagination where we can enter and meet the giants; a place for narration and imagination from a different point of view. From a raised platform visitors can challenge the Nebuta looking them straight in the eyes, which is a very different experience and view from the Festival parade when we look at them from below.
The platform leads to the workshops where the production phases of the Nebuta can be seen, which last all year round, which means that each visit to the Nebuta House offers something different to see.
The functional partitions inside the museum are formed of large black sliding panels, treated with a special patina that emphasizes the colour but leaves the galvanized texture unchanged (the same finish has been used for the steel profiles that form the bearing structure for the building). These moving panels recall a typical feature of traditional Japanese homes – the engawa – and the Nebuta House offers a truly unique view of daily life in the town.
The theatre is a like a “ black box” and has enormous sliding doors to divide the functional areas, meaning the different sections can interact offering the chance of numerous different uses and unexpected views, for example in the dark we can see the enormous suspended light sculptures, whose vibrant colours ripple over the “watery” surface of the floor.

By Chiara Centineo

Project: Museum and Culture Centre
Designer: molo design (Todd MacAllen+Stephanie Forsythe), d&dt Arch (Yasuo Nakata), Frank la Rivière Architects Inc (Frank la Rivière)
Location: Aomori, Giappone
Photos: molo design

THE SONG OF MATTER

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:17:41 +0000

Piccolo animism is a work of engineering and poetry, fully cognate to his previous works, which recreates a dialogue and a much closer bond with the place it was conceived for: the Enel Macro Hall, the new museum in Rome.
The work encloses all the post-industrial tension of architecture, and it work exalts and is nourished by its “container”.
The installation is preceded by Untitled (2006/2007), a black and white video where an enormous industrial remain is removed from its habitat, and seems a stylised mechanical octopus which, with its slow painful movements, contracts in its attempt to find itself an opening, grasping at nothing, and it reawakens a sort of empathy with the spectators, who feel pity for the pain it is suffering: the same “mechanical poetics” that we find again in this new work inside the hall.
Piccolo animism is a large parallepiped made from stainless steel sheets welded to each other, a monolith that is only apparently static.
Through a cycle of injecting and subtracting pressurised air, the volume of the work breathes and changes. Once again the matter is taken to its extreme, discovering new and unexpected forms and sounds, sounds that are created by fiction, impact, collapse, pressure and decompression reveal a matter that sings, and suddenly thunders – it is alive.
The spectator is carried along by the nervousness of the mechanics, experiencing personal emotive tension, feeling vulnerable and anxiously waiting for the action, the change and the song.
“Through this sculpture, I create a phenomenon where conscience and reason react when the action happens or has already happened. If you want to experience it again, you must wait for the next action and in the meantime there is just the memory of the previous one and expectation of what is to come”.

By Chiara Centineo

Project: stainless steel artistic-engineering installation
Designer: Arcangelo Sassolino
Location: Museo Macro, Roma
Photos: Altrospazio Roma e Pamela Randon

THE NEW MEDITERRANEAN MULTIMEDIA LIBRARY

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:23:22 +0000

One of the most interesting projects was the reconstruction and improvement of the former market area, which recently was used as a car park by the residents and the nearby employees of the regional council offices. The project also involved converting an old building into an important public structure that goes beyond the local confines: the Mediterranean Multimedia Library.
Situated in a strategic part of the city near the main entrance to not only Cagliari but Sardinia itself, and also close to the main infrastructures that link the city to the rest of the island, the Mediterranean Multimedia Library (MEM) aims at promoting the culture of books and other media, being a new reference meeting place for the town. It spreads over an area of 7,500 square meters divided over three floors, plus an outdoor area of 800 square meters. The second floor currently houses the archives, while the first floor is entirely dedicated to the library and the ground floor has been designed for maximum use by the public, with the opportunity of a whole range of cultural, commercial and educational initiatives, such as meetings, conventions, temporary exhibitions, installations, or the newspaper library, film library, recreation centre and much more besides. However, the undisputed protagonist of the entire project and the feature that distinguishes the Multimedia Library as a meeting place is the courtyard, which all the internal rooms overlook through the large windows that frame the perimeter.
During the reconstruction, all the areas were redesigned with a more rational layout, and the entire building was demolished with just the outer walls conserved. The decision then to organise the complex around the courtyard is not only more innovative but also solved the bioclimatic problems, reducing the glazed surfaces that were exposed to direct sunlight, and guaranteeing greater privacy to the surrounding residential buildings. The facades around the courtyard are formed of large windows measuring approx. 4 x 2 meters, made from steel uprights and transoms with an aluminium clicked on cover. This system enables creating very large windows, which improve interaction between the multimedia library and the bustling lively area of the outside courtyard, making the entire construction much brighter inside, and reducing the construction costs. The external area is partly covered by a strong glass and steel roof, which also offers weather protection and filters the natural light, which therefore never directly penetrates the rooms inside the multimedia library. The internal courtyard is a cool and calm oasis, protected by the steel roof that enables controlling and carrying the air into the courtyard to create a very pleasant climate even in the hottest months. Originally the project also provided a roof structure supported by a series of trusses, but the last solution preferred the installation of a roof with the same steel frames as the glass modules which form the primary and secondary self-supporting weave for the roof, without the need for any bearing structures beneath.
The new courtyard has an elongated form, which widens towards the middle to mark the central area of the main entrances to the multimedia library, and then extends in two covered corridors that join it to the two pedestrian squares at the ends. The courtyard, with the lights, colours, places for studying and meeting, is hidden from the outside behind a building without any windows, which only reveals to the excellent cultural tourists the wealth of this construction dedicated entirely to the townspeople.

By Giulia Sartor

Project: New Mediterranean Multimedia Library
Time of construction: 2007-2010
Location: Cagliari
Client: Comune di Cagliari – Assessorato lavori pubblici
Architects: OP Architetti Associati di Venezia
Coordination: Ing. Patricolo,Ing. Pintor, Ing. Mossa,Comune Cagliari
Work management: Ing. Ibba, Geom. D’Alise, Geom. Iecle, Comune di Cagliari
Building firms: Karalis Vetro – ATI Ing. Pellegrini Srl-IMMA Spa
Curtain walls and steel window and doorframe profiles: Palladio Spa, Treviso
Photos: Fabrizio Palmas, www.fabriziopalmas.com

LUMINOUS INTUITIONS

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:47:53 +0000

This is the Chiusa di Rio Pusteria, the scene of bitter and lengthy battles, and now the heart of a masterly recovery product addressed at demolishing a certain entrenched series of architectural convictions.
The efforts to conserve this historic site have mainly focused on the centre of the structure, the so-called “Emperor’s Tower”, built in a horseshoe shape over several storeys. The thousand years’ old tower culminates in an innovative steel and glass roof, which looks like a ribbed leaf that has floated down onto the elevated ruins of the old building, giving it new life.
The roof is concave where it is attached to the central bearing column and has a main frame formed of steel tubular sections, which are housed inside a “C” section that is anchored around the edge to the wall behind. A series of steel tie-rods join the beams in the main frame to each other, to hold the large panes of glass in the roof and to stand up to the very violent weather that often occurs, such as the heavy snowfalls. The project involves a few but very ingenious intuitions, which are possible thanks to the use of steel, which plays a leading role in the entire project giving the structure solid minimalist lines and a lightweight appearance. A deft solution that replaces the first project idea of developing an invasive bulky lattice structure that would have compromised the identity of the location. The choice of steel not only exalts the original fascination of the tower, blending in perfectly with the previous architecture with virtually no impact at all, but it also highlights the quality of the project in functional and performance terms leaving imperceptible signs visible. A flowing itinerary of lights and spaces pursue cultural continuity with the past, conserving the exclusive amenity of the location and all the privacy it confers.
Steel is also the undisputed protagonist in the details, such as the winding staircase which is embraced by an elegant steel parapet, which branches out from the bearing column and underlines the winding vertical connection between the storeys in the tower reinforcing the previous spatiality.
A luminous comeback for a historic building, which is surrounded by a panorama that is as evocative as a poem.

By Erica Gaggiato

Project: Chiusa of Rio Pusteria restoration works
Planner: Arch. J. Rieder, Mühlbach
Location: Mühlbach, Bolzano
Time of construction: 1998-1999
Facade fixtures: Heidenberger & Huber
Steel works: Heidenberger & Huber
Photos: Christian Unterkircher
Reference: N. 4 – 2000

CONTEMPORARY FRAGMENTS

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:57:01 +0000

A classic house stands in the area that was built around the 70s on the ruins of the castle – of which only a wall overlooking the valley has been recovered – that gives an amazing balance to the language of the past.
There is the only original relic belonging to the old fort next to the villa: an inaccessible brick tower, which gives a lovely poetic view from the top. The tower creates a single dialogue between past and present and stands out for the innovative AISI 304 stainless steel winding staircase, formed of a frame of three overlapping modules with framed steps welded to the central rod, with shot-blast finish using glass microspheres. To ensure the vertical style of the building is as clear as possible, the stair treads are made from antique finished iron grids, galvanised and painted matt black, in accordance with the modern architectural needs addressed to create increasingly dematerialised atmospheres. The tower is enclosed within a protective fence around its full height, and looks like a complete cylinder, and is made from framed iron plate, which is stretched, painted and fixed to the steps with steel bolts, showing an amazing ability to give a really unusual declination to classical styles. At the top, where the stairway and covering terrace meet, there is a simple handrail formed of black painted iron plates, fixed to the stairway by stainless steel tie rods, which guarantee the bridge is safe that joins the old brick tower and the diaphanous steel construction. A project that was spread over time, addressed to creating functional and volumetric integration with the previous structure, thanks to the powerful dialogue between materials and technology.
The theme of steel continues in the cantilever roof, formed of a simple oxidised iron structure with an asymmetrical glass cover placed over the entrance door to the house. Once again, the indispensable value of details is shown by the fact that the elegance can also be seen in the special care paid to each single one.
The interiors are organised with a simplified layout, where the clear, light continuous colours enhance the innovative minimalist fireplace. Four tuff blocks form the base for an unusual brushed steel brazier, above which there is a seemingly floating hood formed of a steel parallelepiped with shot-blast finish using glass microspheres, which is enclosed between two oxidised iron outer panels.
A simple, essential project that demonstrates yet again how steel manages to give new life to anything it stages, to carry it undamaged through the time barrier.

By Erica Gaggiato

Project: restoration of an ancient tower
Design: Arch. Ezio Riva in collaborazione con Arch. Paolo Ugazio
Construction: Bertolinox Srl
Photographs: Lorenzo Nencioni

RESTORATION FULL OF LIGHT: the house and the landscape

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:22:15 +0000

The desire to create constant dialogue between inside and outside led the architect to choose materials like steel and glass as the best interpreters of continuity between the house and its surroundings.
Near to the main entrance, the house is built on three floors and fully expresses the wish for two large scenic windows near to the main bathroom and the guest room, while the other two floors which house the lounge and kitchen overlook the garden through large windows.
The precise aim to highlight the specific features of the building (the two main windows could have been rolled) in respect of Venetian traditions, and the desire for the large glazed areas led to the choice of steel as the only material possible for the outside window frames.
In particular, given the weight of the panes of glass, the only possible choice was 2 mm thick tubular steel Inox PT® (AISI 316L) of the best quality, with continuous welding.
Thanks to the exceptional strength of this type of steel, Axer Group has created some very large, bright, and even motorised, openings, with such a narrow frame that it is virtually invisible leaving all the space to the transparent glass, a restoration that fully deserves being defined as “full of light”.
The choice of thick steel profiles has guaranteed maximum anti-break in security to this country residence and is totally maintenance free, which is a decisive factor at a time when we must consider savings given the current situation where specialised labour is so difficult to find and very expensive.
Fixed or opening glazed walls, sliding, lifting and special openings designed by the architect, all with a minimal frame give this house a very modern and refined style where the past, present and future are all clearly visible.

By Alice Acoleo

Project: Arch. Alfonso Vesentini, Studio Vesentini Associati, Motta di Livenza, (TV)
Landscape Designer: Orlando De Prà, “Il Giardino Snc”, Rivarotta di Pasiano
Location: San Vito al Tagliamento, (PN)
Client: Private client
Steel window and doorframes: Axer Group, San Biagio di Callalta, (TV)
Steel profiles: Palladio SpA, Treviso (Italia)
Photographs: Paolo Belvedere

FORGOTTEN FACTORIES

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:13:29 +0000

Interview with Stefano Sandonnini

Looking at your photos we find two souls that seem to live perfectly together: that of the photographer and that of the traveller. The traveller’s great curiosity is shown, who looks into each corner and detail of hidden and, often, contradictory and difficult situations and, at the same time, the photographer’s instinct to fix each single moment, the never trivial shot that gives the subjects a new light. See, remember, narrate and interpret. How would you describe your research?
My research is instinctive, when I decide to slip into these abandoned sites and see everything they contain, a fantastic euphoric feeling grows inside me and I try to convert them into fascinating chromatic works, making abandoned things that time has worn down in these ancient steelworks, fading their structures and colours, become abstract pictures. I observe them and compose images that already exist, and then the sensitivity and instinct of my photographer’s eye does what a painter does with his brush and canvas.

Places of hard work, abandoned factories, spaced relegates to our memory: the materials they were made from, the items they contain and their “spiritual nature” which continues to pervade these abandoned and forgotten places, memories linked forever to the traces of those men who worked and lived there. How can this fascinating complexity be translated into a picture?
By feeling the emotions that the place gives off when you are there, the silence that surrounds you gives you unexpected inspirations that help create the frames.

Isn’t there a difference between a “portrait” and a “still life”? or better still, could a broken abandoned keypad and a colourful ravel of cables and broken pipes in an abandoned factory be considered as portraits rather than examples of still life?
Certainly, real portraits where the lines of the face are replaced by the rust and cracks in the materials, giving life to items that so far have only been thought of as work materials and definitely not works of art.

Steel: light and shade, shapes with clear contours and other frayed and unclear parts, scratches, rust and cuts, colour hues that have been patterned by time and man’s work. How can you describe the complexity of photographing this sort of material?
It is not difficult for me to photograph things like this: they are simply waiting to be immortalised, and it depends on the sensitivity of each single artist to be able to see their true nature beyond the banal appearance.

By Marina Cescon

MAGIC ALCHEMY

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 08:49:48 +0000

A unique example, with a rounded and symmetrical shape in blown glass on a milk glass base in shades of grey, all strictly made by hand.
A work of art that is part of the historic Venini archives, the result of constant determined design research. There are numerous encounters with craftsmen and specialised engineers in metal, addressed to scientific investigation of simple intuitions. The final outcome is a surprising alchemy: slender, irregular steel haloes, calculated in a geometric shape and made with cutting edge engineering technology, incorporated with a studied casual ease in the layers of glass during the production process.
The idea to use steel was given by the desire to find a material able to maintain the shape that was given when “cold”, even when the glass was being processed, thanks to the thermal dilation steel has which is very similar to that of glass.
A creation that goes beyond traditional canons and bears witness to the amazing ability of steel to adapt to unusual combinations to create synergies that are beyond compare.
Two totally different souls that are blended together where, with delicate shades and soft lines, distinctive marks overlap to produce unusual patterns and to give the composition a fascinating colour effect.
A universe of unrepeatable colours and shapes that decrees Venini’s success once again, a microcosm for lovers of refined elegance and details, where creativity has taken over and technology just keeps up with its pace.

By Erica Gaggiato

Designer: Diego Chilò
Factory: Venini, Murano (VE)
Photos: Giustino Chemello