Acciaio Arte Architettura | English Version

LOFT IN PARIS

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:05:45 +0000

A former 1950’s warehouse, once used as a sweet factory depot in the old industrial quarter of Montreuil in Paris, it forms part of a large operation of restoration and transformation of ex-industrial pavilions.
The building has now become a photographer’s studio-loft: it provides the normal functional requirements of a living space whilst preserving features typical of an industrial building.
The use of suitable materials, in the main, steel, has transformed the loft into a space adapted to modern living requirements.
Large steel girders break up a geometry that would otherwise be too severe, and join traces of the past to the spirit of a new house: a mezzanine has also been built with two steel U-girders welded together and a “raft” made of 9 IPN girders welded onto 3 IPN girders, all in steel.
There has been particular attention paid to bio-climatic issues and to thermal insulation, and entirely ecological and natural materials have been used.

by Marzia Urettini ( “Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.38)

Architect: LLA – Luca Landolfi Architecture – 5, Rue de Crussol, Paris
www.lla-architecture.com
Location: Paris
Project manager: Luca Landolfi Architecture
Time of construction: 2008
Photographs: Raùl Candalès

ARCHITECTURAL NUDE MODE

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:35:16 +0000

How can we transform a large space, with a structure similar to a large hangar, into a place fit for holding fashion parades, exhibitions and cultural events?
The answer was neither simple nor immediate but analysed and studied at length through a continuous and useful research process of comparison with the context in which to work. The traces of this metamorphosis can be found inside the guidelines of the project that the Anglo French studio RFR followed for the entire intervention on pavilion 5 of the “Parc des Expositions Villepinte”, north of Paris. The essential lines, the predominance of light, the use of a limited range of materials: mainly glass and steel, are the main guiding criteria used to uncover the refinement of this new space for communications and culture.
The surface that was involved is around 3,500 sq.mt., inside a total exhibition area of 35,00 sq.mt.
Inside a closed courtyard, there used to be a completely opaque structure in the centre that made the surroundings even more austere, with no chance of seeing the structure behind it.
The aim of the project was to give unit to the whole, increasing its value, transforming the heart of the composition into a transparent open element, that brought in light and gave a human dimension to the inside of this enormous structure.
In place of the original opaque curtain walls, a superb facade has been made in glass and steel, using T profiles rigidly joined to the mullions of the structure – which carries the airiness of the inside space to the outside, which before was not directly visible.
The use of T profiles with their reduced visual impact, good inertia levels, ease of use and economy in assembly, fully satisfied the requests of the spescification, covering considerable multi-storey heights, without any intermediate anchoring points.
The intervention required detailed planning for the hooking points of the facade to the existing structure, each choice made to guarantee excellent soundproofing and heat insulation.
Two covered passages have been joined to the pavilion, made using hardened transparent glass panels.
The interesting factor of this work is mainly the “almost minimalist” use of construction techniques and the choice of materials: bearing facades with steel skeletons, insulating glass panes fitted directly onto the metal structure.

by Marina Cescon ( “Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.11)

Project: Intervention on pavilion 5 of the “Parc des Expositions Villepinte”
Location: Parc des Expositions de Villepinte, Paris
Project period: 1999
Client:SIPAC
Architects: RFR Ingénieurs Consulting Engineers, Paris; RFR (Peter Rice, Martin Francis, Ian Ritchie) arch. Matthieu David, paysagiste Jacquiline Waechter
Facade structure: Stabalux, Palladio SpA, San Biagio di Callalta, Treviso
Steel window-and-doorframes: Dutemple SA, Paris

OUT WITH NOISE

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:11:32 +0000

Noise annoys us and makes our social life difficult. It can cause deafness, hypertension, sleep disorders in people who are constantly subjected to it. It makes towns and cities impossible to live in. Therefore we must learn to get rid of it, at least within our own homes.
It is well known that one of the main points involved is the window, and for this reason it becomes indispensable to create a barrier that reduces noise, especially if the home is in industrial zones, near very busy roads or in particularly chaotic urban centres.
The sound-proofing capacity of a fixture is the result of a series of requirements that, if correctly respected, allows you to stem even the most troublesome noises.
Among these are the robustness of the profile, the connection type and the type of opening as well as correct mounting. A decisive factor in determining the soundproofing performance is still, however, the material. The higher the mass, the better the soundproofing. For this reason, the use of steel in fixtures is the best choice for frames of a high specific weight that are suitable for reducing unwanted noise to a minimum.
A fundamental principle to avoid compromising the work’s success is still, however, that of the closed joint as anywhere that air passes so, inevitably, does noise. For this reason joints should be welded and not squared. The tubes used for the fixture must have gasket-holding slots and must be able to support a certain thickness of glass with a particular PVB film.
Faced with this series of requirements, steel is once more proven to be the best material for realising high-performance soundproofing frames while allowing each architectural solution to establish its own dialogue with the natural environment that surrounds it.

THE NEW ECOFRIENDLY PROFILE

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:15:29 +0000

Comment on PVC Forum (8th July 2010)

We want to send some clarifications on the part regarding PVC frames in which many inaccuracies are read.
First of all, the strength of the PVC frame is undoubtedly its high performance as thermal and acoustic insulation. The values of the thermal transmittance nowadays decrease under 1 W/m2K guaranteeing the designer the respect, with wide margin, of what the law of energy saving requests and the users the housing comfort in winter as well as in summer.
The PVC frame doesn’t require any maintenances, only the usual cleaning, it does not build-up condense and it is not attacked by atmospheric agents. The exellent performances are granteed for long years subject to prior correct installation.
Through a voluntary agreement named Vinyl 2010 (www.vinyl2010.org), the European PVC industry has removed the inner components you underlined: cadmium, lead, dioxin. It has also activated an efficient circuit of collection and recycle of thousands tons of PVC. PVC is actually an absolutely recyclable material and truly recyled. The production scraps as well as the post-use frames are recovered in order to produce goods using in many industrial fields.
The low environmental impact of the polymer during its entire life cycle is proved by LCA studies carried on by some different European bodies such as PVC Forum Italy (www.pvcforum.it) that places these studies at disposal of anyone would consult them.
In 2007 PVC windows got the higher evaluation of “ecologically interesting” by Eco-davis, a Swiss organization consisting of public and private bodies that provides an internationally leader environmental classification of building materials. This is an important merit that is added to the highest scores “A+” for the commercial buildings and “A” for the industial ones obtained by the PVC frames in the “Green Guide to Specification” of Building Research Establischment (BRE), a worldwide well-known English company for environmental evaluation.
PVC Forum Italy is willing to offer further clarifications and thecnical specifications on this subject.

THE NEW ECOFRIENDLY PROFILE

On the threshold of the third millennium, new development directives have opened up, extending the need for training and information into ecology in the construction field. After a certain amount of resistance and hesitation, the entire professional field is now prepared for a new challenge: sustainable constructions through efficient planning with zero environmental impact.
In the market for window and doorframes, a multitude of competing statements proclaim the environmental gifts of various materials, spreading purposely vague information so as to mislead the customer.
One of the worst options to construct windows is without doubt polyvinyl chloride, better known as PVC, which poorly satisfies the needs for quality and recyclability. Consequently Italy, and Europe, has tried to regulate its use due to the dangerous toxic emissions that it gives off during processing and disposal, not to mention the cancerogenous sub-products in the case of accidental fire. Its internal components are under inquest: dioxin, phthalate, lead and cadmium. Even at low concentrations, the latter tends to build up in organisms and ecosystems, causing irreparable damage to man and the environment.
To demonstrate the low ecofriendliness of PVC, are the enormous problems in its disposal and the fact it is impossible to recycle, which means that the problem is brutally resolved by leaving it in the dumps, where it tends to decay and give off the extremely harmful additives that it is made of.
Along with the high environmental impact, there are also the problems with its poor performance: in fact it needs complex maintenance work due to wear over time, and therefore does not offer the consumer any sort of guarantee.
Then we should consider wood, the leading protagonist in the highly publicised ecofriendly architecture, which, however, when submitted to a closer examination, is not as ecofriendly as it seems. The combustion products from wood considerably pollute the atmosphere, which is demonstrated by the recent worsening of the limitations on its emissions. But that is not all: a more serious consequence from the massive use of wood in building is deforestation, the cause of increasingly irregular rainfalls and a progressive loss of biodiversity. Excessive tree felling also increases the risk of landslides and floods, not to speak of the sudden climatic changes, which are a very sad threat for farming in particular. Among the most serious damage caused by deforestation we must not forget the greenhouse effect, desertification of dry lands and the banal yet vital removal of the resources for the native populations.
In the field of windows and doors, a material that is as much well – known as impressive, from the ecological point of view, is undoubtedly the aluminum. It is a oar that needs a considerable use of energy in transformation from bauxite, the material from which the aluminum is extracted, into the pure aluminum.
Moreover, as emerged from some researches, in the realization of the frames, aluminum is mixed with plastic materials for a better insulation, but in this way it takes all the disadvantages that characterize the PVC .
While the environmental catastrophe proceeds by blows with floods and earthquakes, an appropriate use of steel is the opportunity to create a new architectural language that marries the purely aesthetic and functional parameters with ecofriendliness, because it is 100% recyclable and ecological. There are numerous fields where steel can be used, thanks to its corrosion resistance it does not give off any pollutants and no radiation, and is totally harmless for the environment.
A material without limitations in terms of aesthetics and composition, ideal anywhere that high level safety and ease of maintenance are required, continuing with renewed vigour to contribute to the wellbeing of our society even in this era of technical and economic uncertainty. By ecofriendliness we do not mean that it just protects the natural resources and ecosystem, but it improves the economics of the construction throughout its entire life, from construction, through maintenance and finally in recycling.
A combination of performances that demonstrate how planning in steel means undertaking an ecofriendly enterprise, occupying three-dimensional space without conditioning the environment.

Comment of “Acciaio Arte Architettura” editing (16th July 2010)

We are glad to know about this voluntary agreement named Vinyl 2010 stipulated in order to remove the toxic components we have underlined.
We read in your blog, www.pvcforum.it, that it is however an European agreement and we ask you, just for information, if even the rest of the world undertakes this path to sustainability. Regarding the lead, we have also noticed that a low percentage of frames producers has endorsed this agreement.
Surely there are good and well-known plastic materials, such as nylon, rayon, teflon, silicone, vulcolan and polyurethan, therefore a question about the reason why these materials are not used in the frames field spontaneously arises.
The environmental impact, a very important topic, does not make us forgot however that the essetial requirement of a frame is its mechanical strength because it is constantly exposed to stress, that sometimes is very violent. We have only to think about those public places in which the users usually do not take particular attention. For a long time now, profiles and PVC frames producers are addressing to the steel world. The cases of PVC frames that use a steel skeleton in order to face, we think, dilation and structural weakness are more and more frequent.
So, we wonder how can the corner, the more stress point of the PVC frame, support not only window and frame weight, but also the weight of the internal thermal break steel skeleton. Did not we say that PVC is insulating by nature? There is a set of questions asked for giving informations about the frames world. If these topics are been solved, we will be very glad to know about the progress of this material.

EURATECHNOLOGIES LILLE

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:38:09 +0000

As part of the establishment of the EuraTechnologie centre, the restructuring of the industrial archaeology buildings in the Le Blan-Lafont complex is a challenge for the revival of the entire urban strip along the banks of the river Deûle, not far from the city of Lille.
The project is ambitious and includes – in addition to the economic activities linked mainly to communication and information technologies – recreational and commercial areas, cultural centres, service industry areas and offices, as well as a residential quarter, over a total of more than a hundred hectares of land.
The urban organisation of the settlement recaptures and reinterprets the philosophy of the historical garden-cities, areas where the relationship between buildings and the nature around them became essential and inescapable.
The operational strategy for the restoration of the buildings focuses particularly on recapturing some elements of the typical architectural language of the industrial historical world of spinning: the majestic work spaces, the airiness of the double height halls, eliminating – sometimes – those components that had, in time, built up and that were working against the overall interpretation of the historical complex.
Bricks, steel and glass are the building materials used: the large windows have kept their original form of lines in light filigree, distinguished by fine, but highly resistant, frames.
The large walls reach heights of around twenty metres, and consequently the panes of glass they have to hold are a considerable weight. The uprights used for the walls and for the main frame of the glass roof are made of special steel tubes, distinguished by a central groove – known as a “swallows tail”- which, as well as making the section stronger, forms the natural and practical housing in the assembly stages on the construction site for the seals that separate the glass from the steel upright structures and the fixing screws. This will result in a reduction in assembly time, which means that highly specialised labour need not be used for such operations and there is the potential of intensifying the number of closure points along the whole groove if need be. Such features work together to result in fast and safe management of construction site operations that, due to the considerable dimensions of the walls and glass roofs, could have needed several additional delicate stages which would have been difficult to put into practice.

By/di Marina Cescon (da “Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.39)

Progetto/Project: EuraTechnologies
Luogo/Location: Lille, France
Periodo di realizzazione/Time of construction: ultimata / completed 2009
Committente/Client: Communauté Urbaine de Lille
Progettazione (architetto incaricato(/ Design (Principal Architect): BROSSY & Associés,
Team associati / Local Associates: SAS MIZRAHI, BET TCE
Profili in acciaio per facciate / Steel profiles for façades : Sistema Stabalux, Palladio SpA, Treviso, Italia
Documentazione fotografica / Photographs: BROSSY & Associés

STEEL STYLE

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:55:53 +0000

The work in question is an interesting example of industrial archaeological recovery in the centre of Milan, in Via Tortona, which is famous for the numerous ateliers and showrooms of the international design, architecture and fashion world.
The client, a famous Italian textile designer, needed to prepare a large showroom for receiving clients and working in, using it as the sales headquarters for the national and foreign markets.
The project guidelines were based on the need to create large areas and rooms for reception and parades, next to the more reserved and smaller work areas.
Therefore inside this single room measuring 9 meters high and 280 m2, the architects decided to create single height areas for the showroom, while the offices, collection rooms, meeting rooms, dinette, reception and service areas were all spread over two storeys.
The extensive use of steel for the structural parts (18 meter long beams for the new floors, columns, roof, supporting beams), for the window and doorframes, stairs, catwalks and the internal finishes, demonstrates expert use and knowledge of this iron and carbon alloy.
This intervention goes against modern trends of just using steel to follow fleeting variable fashion modes, without realising the performance it offers, without knowing how it can be processed, or by using too narrow tubular steel. This sort of improper use of steel is completely useless and dangerous.
The validity of steel is clearly visible in the window and doorframes in the offices and showroom, from the standard sized door to the large 4 meter high winged door: here stainless steel tubular profiles measuring at least 2 mm have been used to guarantee maximum safety, functions and long life.
The large wing door separates the collection room – almost 50 m2 – without any interruption even in the floor: the door closes on one side of the room sliding in the single track fixed to the ceiling, without any floor runners, which would create a barrier for the disabled. This sort of construction was possible only with stainless steel with its excellent performance features.
Steel therefore that is both attractive and functional, thanks to which the thickness of the other elements, such as the raised catwalks, have been reduced to create the lightweight effect that was required despite the considerable distances that were covered.
The stairway was made entirely in the factory and then dismantled and carried to the site where it was assembled and welded. It is formed of a central bearing steel tube with steps attached to it and only three supports at different levels.
The final effect is of a single track that unwinds between oblique and horizontal stretches in the showroom.

By/di Marzia Urettini (from “Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.26)

THE NEW STEEL CONCEPT FOR DOORS AND WINDOWS

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:36:01 +0000

Short Film

The window, implemented using sturdy steel profiles 2mm thick, is equipped with an auto-ventilation system which works with the window closed and increases significantly its thermal and acoustic insulation.
Thanks to the sealing potential of steel, we can achieve very high standards of protection against break-ins – Class 5, the higher level of protection for doors and windows – hermetic protection against flooding and the best attainable performances when it comes to air tightness and resistance to wind pressure.
The heart of the window is in steel: sturdy tubular profiles incredibly slim; however the finishing can be applied to the internal and external sides at a further stage, using any other material, in a simple and cost effective way.
In addition to the painting in any color of the RAL range and the beloved satinized inox, steel ideally can be matched with any material, such as hard wood species, corean, copper, corten steel or brass.
This way the steel window becomes a body shell, a strong skeleton which keeps mechanic functionality and performances unaltered over time. In the same time, just like with a tailor’s dummy, its dress can be changed according to the buyer’s aesthetical needs or the building’s use, or whenever it is required. This opens the way to customization and invention freedom as never seen before.

At the early stages of a building, employing this construction method, using steel profiles which become a false frame on site, is highly beneficial both to the architect and the end user, to the builder and the window builder. Summing up:

Advantages for the architect/end user:
- Freedom of window customization, by adopting the finishing that better suits the interior (even if for the outside of the building a specific finishing is required by law or regulation);
- No problems for the approval of the exterior materials in restorations;
- Easy and cost effective maintenance even after decades of use or for changed aesthetical needs;
- Possibility to check air tightness, flood sealing and weather sealing from the start of the construction works, with the opportunity to take immediate action against possible seepages, before the buyer starts using the building, as it often happens;
- Countless combinations of colors and materials for the finishing, which can be chosen also at the end of the works, even after the laying of the floors or of other elements that will aesthetically mark the setting.

Advantages for the window builder:
- The window acts also as “false frame”;
- The window is cost effective and easy to build in the workshop because at this stage it does not require a thorough finishing;
- On site hardware can be fitted quickly and in a practical way;
- Frames can be cut and built in standard sizes;
- All silicone seals are ruled out;
- Invoicing and cashing of most of the price can be done at the beginning of the works, and not left until the construction site closure.

Advantages for the builder:
- The window is cost effective and handy to move, because, being in the raw, it does not require particular care;
- The false frame can be used as real window, however it does not cause problems on site because it is only a steel skeleton, which will be finished at the end of the works;
- The use of onsite hardware (bolts and alike) allows the handling of the windows without fear of damage;
- It makes it possible to work onsite in any season (avoiding winter halts);
- It makes it possible to set and activate the alarm already at the first fix stage of the building works, allowing safer working conditions;
- It makes it possible to install an industrial heating system to dry up walls, lofts etc.;
- Allowances are available to insure the construction site.

di/by Giulia Sartor

BETWEEN THE LINES

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:31:26 +0000

The project for the roof over the large central courtyard in this baroque building, built in 1735, is the final part of the general project that the Daniel Libeskind Studio implemented in the amazing and moving extension work to the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
The new bright central courtyard roof looks like one of the traditional curtains that are used for the Jewish feast of Sukkah, a place of meeting and festivity, to remember the life of the people of Israel in the desert during their journey to the Promised Land.
The diaphanous steel and glass structure looks like the flowing drapes of a curtain moved by the wind: the façade seems to ripple like a piece of material giving transparency towards the park behind.

Di/by Marina Cescon (“Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.37/2009 pp.8-17)

RURAL RENOVATION

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:01:06 +0000

Special attention was paid to the traditional architecture when facing this renovation work, but with all the technical and safety requirements satisfied that are essential today. The introduction of narrow but very strong Palladio® steel profiles for the window and doorframes made all needs for bars and armoured shutters entirely superfluous.
The strength of steel also guarantees perfect, unaltered and long-lasting functions, totally indeformable even under very heavy use, therefore maintaining excellent levels of heat and sound proofing, and anti-flood protection, all with virtually no maintenance required.
Steel can have some very unusual finishes applied: burnished, smart elegant white paint or wood effect.
An alternative to surface treatment is also cladding the inside of the door or window, often used in traditional and rustic buildings.
Not only steel grey or shiny stainless steel of modern homes then. Often steel reveals its conservative nature and allows harmonising the aesthetics of the building, but guarantees all the physical and mechanical properties of a material that is much superior to aluminium or PVC.

Di/By Alice Acoleo (”Acciaio Arte Architettura”; n.40/2009 pp58/61)

AMONG VINEYARDS

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:26:22 +0000

The Castelvecchio Farm is located just above Sagrado (Gorizia), where the Carso region offers some striking and peaceful nooks. Here, the landscape’s beauty, coming from the noble and ancient origins of these places, is also marked by a well-known historically difficult soil that is dry at the surface and rocky underneath, but capable to offer fructuous harvest, thanks to the tenacious work of man. The master house is the heart of the estate that spreads across large vineyards and woods.

The intervention foresaw the insertion of a new wing on the building, a real green house that recalls and modernizes the idea of a garden in the winter.

The greenhouse was designed according to anti-intrusion safety measures and energy saving concept as concerns the location’s heating and cooling systems.

Thanks to the inner capability of steel, which is easy to weld and match, the steel components could satisfy the needs and creativity of the architect and designer. That way, the knots and finishing were studied and customized whilst maintaining the geometric essentiality of the knot and the thickness of the supporting profile: exactly as an old “iron-window”

The research in the study of the details was aimed at combining the historical image that the designer wanted to recreate with the compulsory performances that the modern window and doorframes must guarantee. In the greenhouse and winter garden structures, the window and the doorframes almost completely cover the perimeter surfaces; therefore, a careful realization and, above all, the assembling of the window and doorframes, connecting to the adjacent structures and the foundation base, are a fundamental issue to guarantee the success of the intervention over time.

Valeria Pasqualini

Acciaio Arte Architettura N.39 – September 2009