Untitled - Allemandi

Interior Wor(l)ds **
Mariella Brenna, Lola Ottolini
with
Viviana Saitto
Pubblished by Umberto Allemandi&C.
via Mancini 8
10131 Torino, Italy
www.allemandi.com
First published 2010
© 2010 Umberto Allemandi&C., Torino
All rights reserved
ISBN 978- 88-422-1947-7
Interior Wor(l)ds
Editors
Mariella Brenna, Lola Ottolini
Assistant Editor
Viviana Saitto
Peer Review Panel
Imma Forino, Gennaro Postiglione, Roberto Rizzi
Editing
Arianna Andreoli, Eleonora Gallitelli
Acknowledgements
Politecnico di Milano
Scuola di Dottorato del Politecnico di Milano
PhD Course in Interior Architecture and Exhibition Design
Facoltà di Architettura e Società
Facoltà di Architettura Civile
Dipartimento di Progettazione dell’Architettura DPA
ST&P Stage&Placement Università IULM
Contents
7
Foreword
9
Five Masters of Interior Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano
21
Worlds and Words
22
Contaminations
Martina Annaloro, M. Isabella Vesco, Università di Palermo
24
Interaction
Carla Athayde, Serena Del Puglia, Francesco Ducato,
Stardust*, Barcelona
26
Connectivity
Illya Azaroff, Mary-Jo Schlachter , Sanjie Vaidya
City University of New York
Gregory Marinic
Universidad de Monterrey
28
Decor Action
Davide Crippa, Barbara Di Prete, Franceso Tosi
Ghigos ideas, Lissone
30
Homely City
Davide Crippa, Barbara Di Prete, Franceso Tosi
Ghigos ideas, Lissone
32
Words
Cristina Colombo, Politecnico di Milano
34
Threshold
Chiara De Camilli, Barbara Di Prete, Ilaria Guarino, Elena Montanari
Politecnico di Milano
36
Opening
Sara Damascelli, Politecnico di Milano
38
In Between
Elena Elgani, Chantal Forzatti, Maria Letizia Novarese, Fabio Vizzi,
Paola Zocchi, Politecnico di Milano
40
Appropri Action
Giovanni Fabbrocino, Paolo Giardiello
Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”
42
Landscapes
Eleonora Fassina, Luca Messina, Politecnico di Milano
44
Inside
Massimo Ferrari, Politecnico di Milano
46
Vista
Chris Fersterer, Otago Polytechnic, School of Design
48
Infra-Malls
Filippo Lambertucci, Università di Roma “Sapienza”
50
Trasformability
Valeria Manzini, Yuri Mastromattei, SIXPLUS architetti, Milano
52
Versatility
Silvia Terrenghi, FATmaison, Monza
54
Inhabiting
Lucilla Zanolari Bottelli, Politecnico di Milano
57
58
59
Peer Reviewers Panel
Editors
Assistant Editor
Foreword
The editors
To display. Displaying is, by definition, the response
to a communication need (the act of getting across
to someone which comes from the high Latin
comunicare, a verb close to the term commūnis,
commune, according to Zingarelli italian dictionary.
The term thus specifies the act of putting something
in common, to share it), the dynamic development
of material or immaterial bits of information marked
by an intrinsic character of temporality about given
contents (...)
(Agostino Bossi, Allestire, problematiche disciplinari, 2008)
Many are the words we are used, by instinct, to associate with
Interior Architecture. Among those which best convey the relevancy
and the complexity of our discipline appears the word “to fit out”.
A house, a shop, a ship, a museum are all spaces which can be “fit
out”. We can add to this list a square, a street, a garden and so
on. Various are indeed the application fields of this word, which
emphasizes the designer’s purpose to make a new place inhabitable
and comfortable for its future inhabitants.
From a theoretical, architectural and technological point of view,
internal design covers the wide sphere of interest connected to the
transformations happening in the “inhabiting” culture and to a new
strategy for the planning of modern cities. The traditional idea of
Interior Architecture as design of home spaces has now become oldfashioned. Interior Architecture is increasingly adapting to the needs
of contemporary society where spatial typologies are getting more
and more hybrid: in homes we live and work, we turn abandoned
warehouses into exhibition spaces or university campuses, we attend
theater plays in old market places...
The continuous expansion of urban areas creates other “worlds”
where the interior design finds its natural application: restoration and
7
renovation, industrial reconversion, new locations in which, beyond
the need of adapting to new functions, it is necessary to preserve old
features and engage with a certain environment. An example can be
given by a new project composed of small architectures which stand
on building facades and roofs and exploit urban interstices, creating,
in this way, new inhabitable spaces and redefining the shape of urban
interiors.
The spaces inhabited by men are, in fact, constantly evolving and
evoke concepts like flexibility, temporality and transformability.
The “time” variable brings in as a project theme, both in thinking
flexible architecture and in paying attention to the new scientific
and technological knowledge which often comes from other fields.
Beyond limits of scale and a priori functional conditionings, the
project applies to the architectural system – spaces surrounded by
borders that can be material or artificial (wall, floor, ceiling) and/or
virtual and/or natural (plants, horizons, smells, colors, microclimate):
the square is a room whose ceiling is the sky.
It is no more about working in small spaces with a limit of scale
and an interest in the detail, but rather about working with the
methodological attitude of focusing on the individual and his/her
network of relations in order to guarantee, in every situation and in
every context, the best quality of city and home life. The world of
interiors can be firstly described with words, which can consequently
be associated to drawings and pictures. This subsequential process
will force us into an unavoidable synthesis that will result particularly
effective and evocative. In this publication we collected some
suggestions, which configure part of all conceivable worlds.
8
Five Masters of Interior Architecture
from the Politecnico di Milano
Gio Ponti
Architect’s apartment located in Via Dezza 49, Milan 1957
View of the living room towards the facade.
Ph. © Gio Ponti Archives, Salvatore Licitra, Italy.
Franco Albini
Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo, with Franca Helg, Genoa 1952-56.
View of the central space between the round rooms containing the silver
statue of the Virgin and the chest for the procession of Corpus Christi.
Ph. Marco Introini 2005.
Carlo De Carli
Sant’Erasmo theater, with Antonio Carminati, Milan 1951-53.
Partial view of the octagonal central stage.
Ph. © De Carli Archives, Italy.
Vittoriano Viganò
Faculty of Architecture, Milan 1970-1985.
Internal view of patio’s sheltered space (several recent adjustment
works have partially altered the view of the interior space).
Ph. Mariella Brenna, 2010.
Fredi Drugman
Building of a primary and secondary school with the sports hall, with
M. Baffa e U. Rivolta, Muggiò, Milan, 1976-1985.
View towards the entrance hall.
Ph. © Rivolta Archives, Italy.
Worlds and Words
Contaminations
Martina Annaloro, M. Isabella Vesco
Università di Palermo (Italy)
Martina Annaloro
Honorary Fellow of
Scenography and Interior
Architecture. Master in
“Comunicazione dei Beni
Culturali Museali e del
Territorio”, Università di
Palermo and Master in
“Allestimento ed esposizione
museale”, Artedata, Florence.
Selected publications: Carmen
alla Tonnara Bordonaro di
Palermo, Palermo 2009;
Nuovi materiali e media nella
scena, Palermo 2006.
M. Isabella Vesco
Associate Professor of
Scenography and Interior
Architecture, member of
the PhD Board of Industrial
Design, Università di Palermo.
Selected publications:
Teatro non a teatro: Luoghi
e spazi, Roma 2010; Tre
Maestri: riflessioni sulla casa
contemporanea, Palermo 2009,
An eagle at the theatre_From
the house of the dead, London
2009; The Theatre of Fortunato
Depero, London 2009; Allestire
il paesaggio, Palermo 2008;
La concezione dello spazio in
architettura, Palermo 2008.
Contamination is “the blending of two forms or of two constructs, in
such a way as to give rise to a third form or a third construct.”
As concerns two different methods of “staging”, that is theatrical
performance and urban scenery, the disciplinary confines between the
worlds of architecture, art and technology are weak and permeable.
However, they share a common objective: to sensitize and harness the
given space producing scenic elements for a show, a street, a square or
a gaming event.
In theatre, it is frequent to speak of contamination of spaces (stage
and stalls) and of people (actors and spectators). In an urban setting
we discover a different “contamination”: a contamination between
experiences and apparently very distinct fields of research (art,
sculpture, design, photography…).
More often the scenic project is still perceived as not fully
experienced, while in urban installations the user has a key role in the
event.
Above: M. Annaloro, M. I. Vesco. 2010. Elaboration of A. Siza, Maschere in
Mestre, Adalberto. 2003. Parco della Scultura in Architettura. 52. San Donà di Piave: Annuali.
22
Interaction
Carla Athayde, Serena Del Puglia, Francesco Ducato
Stardust*, Barcelona (Spain)
Stardust*
Stardust* was established in
November 2008 from an
idea of Carla Athayde and
Francesco Ducato.
After working in an
international context and
in different art fields, they
felt the need of developing
a studio which did not care
about disciplinary definitions
and did not specialize
in something particular
but concentrated in the
construction of new realities,
defining relations of abilities
and talents for each project.
Stardust* is at the moment
developing projects in Spain,
Italy, Brazil, Syria and USA
and has no geographical
limits.
Enric Ruiz-Geli – author of the Media-TIC project/Cloud 9 team
and Stardust* team – reveals the power of cooperation in the
realization of an idea (Architects’ generations interaction).
The theoretical foundation of the Situationists’ Utopias becomes
operational by contemporary technological instruments (Interaction
with the past).
Stardust* and BurésInnova project the “Green Attack”, a hexagonal
element used to cover interior and exterior surfaces with vegetation
and to create a network between cities, buildings and plants (Nature
interaction).
The tables are hanging from the ceiling as well as the floors of the
building are hanging from the main steel structure. The position
of the furniture is related to the module of the building (building
structure and module interaction).
Monitors communicate simultaneously events and energetic
efficiency of the building, and establish a strong interaction among
users, web network, environment, energetic value of the building,
performative value of the architecture, video light and corporate
identity’s colours (multi-digital interaction). Interaction is the “art of
meeting”.
Above: Stardust*. 2010. Perspective of the reception of Media-TIC Building.
24
Connectivity
Illya Azaroff , Mary-Jo Schlachter, Sanjie Vaidya
City University of New York (USA)
Gregory Marinich
Universidad de Monterrey (México)
Illya Azaroff
Gregory Marinich
Mary-Jo Schlachter
Sanjie Vaidya
The project is developed by:
Professors
Gregory Marinic,
Universidad de Monterrey
Illya Azaroff, City University
of New York
Mary-Jo Schlachter, City
University of New York
Sanjive Vaidya, City
University of New York.
Students
Erik Jester, Vanessa
Joseph, Anna Cedrina,
Yaya Kobayashi, Florim
Kukaj, Micheal Liu, Carlos
Quinones, Bersley Reyes,
Long Ruan, Andy Sanchez,
Javier Santos, Piotr Szalegam,
Bartosz Tarnawam, Elena
Tugesheva.
This visual compilation, expressly generated for Interior Wor(l)ds,
is the result of a semester-long interior architectural research lab
conducted at the City University of New York. The endeavor, entitled
(re)HOUSE, asked us to fundamentally reconsider our preconceived
notions of domestic space.
Concurrent with sustainable thought, architecture and designed
objects should not simply form, but rather perform various functions
beyond those conventionally associated with them. In (re)HOUSE,
performance, therefore, reflected both of its connotations – acting as
a practical and symbolic stage for both living and working.
Students ultimately worked at half- and full-scale on strategies for
detail/joint systems, modular systems, partitioning systems, lighting,
textiles and designed objects. Students postulated performance
criteria and potential flexible applications for permanent use
beyond (re)HOUSE itself. This visual compilation reveals the
anthropomorphic underpinnings of the research lab, as well as their
transformative potential as generators of innovative interior detailing.
Above: C. Quinones. Human joint systems: visualized and diagrammed.
26
Decor Action
Davide Crippa, Barbara Di Prete, Francesco Tosi
Ghigos ideas, Lissone (Italy)
Davide Crippa
Barbara Di Prete
Francesco Tosi
They graduated in 2002 from
Politecnico di Milano, then
obtained a grant to develop
research on Interior and
Industrial Design.
In 2004 they founded the
firm Ghigos for architecture,
design and communication.
Theoretical research has
been developed through
conferences, publications,
as curators at the Forum
di Omegna Museum and
teaching activities at the
Politecnico and NABA.
The word Decor Action refers to motifs drawn around in daily life as
traces of people’s behaviours or interactive visual playgrounds: it is a
design approach that considers the decoration not only as a surface
treatment but mainly as an interactive tool to enable relationships.
The design process therefore can start as a story and bring the
memory of a place to new life – the decorative systems of the
restaurant presented here are exactly in this way, translating in
drawings old furnishings and the exhibit design of the Feminine Art
Museum, a 3D spatial embroidery. Otherwise, the design process can
start from the invitation to play, interact and thus engage on the part
of people staying in places with poor qualities – like the tic-tac-toe
wallpaper.
Beside the above mentioned projects we present a tent studied for
elder people, where the decorative embroidered pattern hides holes to
safely watch street life.
Above: Ghigos ideas. 2010. Ornament and “delight”: the decoration like a possibility of
interaction between person and space.
28
Homely City
Davide Crippa, Barbara Di Prete, Francesco Tosi
Ghigos ideas, Lissone (Italy)
Davide Crippa
Barbara Di Prete
Francesco Tosi
They graduated in 2002 from
Politecnico di Milano, then
obtained a grant to develop
research on Interior and
Industrial Design.
In 2004 they founded the
firm Ghigos for architecture,
design and communication.
Theoretical research has
been developed through
conferences, publications,
as curators at the Forum
di Omegna Museum and
teaching activities at the
Politecnico and NABA.
The design in the urban context as well as in a domestic environment
is an invitation for people to regain and live urban places as shared
dining rooms.
This is a design approach especially intended for problematic (both
in social and spatial terms) public urban areas usually not attended
by local population.
An example could be the project for a public park in the Bologna
outskirts here presented, which has been proposed to be reconsidered
as a house working on the split parts of it and identifying them as
rooms by means of furniture and decorations.
The other example is a urban device to collect memories from
Turin inhabitants and later gather them to share those memories
and thus discover similarities and common interests to form
new communities. This device, a movable archive, has a complex
recording system as well as, when opened, a charming and relaxing
dining room to stay in and listen or watch other people’s stories.
Above: Ghigos ideas. 2010. Domestic and urban dimensions cross and overlap until begin confused.
30
Words
Cristina Colombo
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Cristina Colombo
PhD student in Interior
Architecture and Exhibition
Design at the Politecnico
di Milano, where she is an
assistant lecturer in the labcourse of Interior Design and
in Museography.
In 2006 she completed
her Master Degree in
Architecture with a
museographical thesis.
She then collaborated
with architect Matteo
Sacchetti, being involved in
a feasibility study to set a
Fine Art Academy in Villa
Mylius in Varese and in the
project “Via Lucis”, with the
partnership of the association
Varese Europea.
From October 2007 to
January 2008 she was
a speaker at a cycle of
conferences on the theme
of contemporary museum
at Daverio Public Library
(Varese, Italy).
What happens when words abandon their traditional media and are
used as iconic images in an urban scenery?
Impressing one’s thoughts and signature on things has always been
considered a controversial kind of art used by street writers to protest
against society or to express themselves.
Street Art has been frequently judged as an act of vandalism, though,
as every artistic movement, it has its own experimental activity and
style. In the recent years trends as Typography Art, Led and Video
Art have offered new perspectives to this kind of communication:
urban graffiti have passed from an illegal act to a democratic way of
communication using facades, streets and bridges to speak to the city
community. Words have started to suggest behaviours and decorate
spaces. The still urban scene has become more and more permeated
by an endless flow of communication, made of images and
messages which integrate with architecture and interiors, influence
the environment, increase the identity of space and transform
unconscious fruition into critical experience.
Above: C. Colombo. 2010. Elaboration of F. Depero drawing of the Padiglione del Libro, designed
fot the III Monza Biennale, 1927.
32
Threshold
Chiara De Camilli, Barbara Di Prete, Ilaria Guarino, Elena Montanari
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Chiara De Camilli
Barbara Di Prete
Ilaria Guarino
Elena Montanari
They graduated in
Architecture from Politecnico
di Milano where they have
continued working as
assistant lecturers within
several didactic activities.
They are currently purchasing
the research doctorate in
Interior Architecture and
Exhibit Design.
In Summer 2008 they
participated in the
international workshop
“Luoghi Urbani. Identità
e valori insediativi tra
conservazione e innovazione”
held in Bojano (Cb) and
organized by the Facoltà di
Architettura of the Università
degli Studi di Napoli
“Federico II”. On that
occasion they developed the
current project.
The city of Bojano and the sequence of discontinuous spaces that
lead from Piazza Roma to Piazza Pasquino are characterized by a
multiplicity of physical and perceptive urban thresholds obstructing
the interaction among different spatial and social environments.
The project introduces a series of archetypal figures placed all over the
complex urban system. Through the multiplication of thresholds it is
possible to regain possession of space.
In the passage from the symbols to the physical entities, the figures
become urban furniture, accurate interiors that provide a background
for meetings, plays and rest time: the moments of transit and stay
coincide.
The inhabitable frames have a double soul: the inner surface is
made of wood, which hosts life, while the external part is metallic
and partially mirrored. So threshold animates the space and space
animates the threshold.
Above: C. De Camilli, B. Di Prete, I. Guarino, E. Montanari. 2010. Threshold.
34
Opening
Sara Damascelli
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Sara Damascelli
For about ten years she has
been working as a designer,
project and construction
manager in the fields of
office and space planning
and retail. Important projects
are: Hotel Abi d’Oru, H3G
Headquarter, WarnerBros
Italia, Royal Bank of
Scotland and Google Italia.
She write articles for a
magazine specialized in
office fit-out and furniture,
design, real-estate and spaceplanning trends.
Recently she have started
lecturing at the Politecnico di
Milano, Facoltà di Design.
She have also planned
home-design products and
participated in contemporary
art exhibitions.
Indoor spaces can evocate various feelings, especially if there
is harmony between the interior and the exterior part. While
developing a project, the relationship between the interiors and the
exteriors is a decisive factor to achieve a good image and a strong
architectural result. On the other side it must be said that by letting
in air, light, scents and weather, a sense of spirituality can be infused
and the spirit of the place – the so-called “Genius Loci” – be felt just
from the entrance, even if it comes from the outside. A particular
emotion is all around. Extra-ordinary examples of this capability,
sometimes calculated, some others spontaneous, are represented
by the Abbey of San Galgano (Siena, 1288), the Church of Carmo
(Lisbon, 1389), the Church of Spasimo (Palermo, 1509) and the
Church of the Light (by Tadao Ando, Osaka, 1989).
Above: S. Damascelli, 2010. Sketch of Pantheon Church - Rome, Italy, cross section.
36
In Between
Elena Elgani, Chantal Forzatti, Maria Letizia Novarese,
Fabio Vizzi, Paola Zocchi
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Elena Elgani
Chantal Forzatti
Maria Letizia Novarese
Fabio Vizzi
Paola Zocchi
All team members graduated
from Politecnico di Milano
between July and September
2008. Forzatti graduated in
Architectural Construction,
while the other – Elgani,
Novarese and Zocchi – in
Science of Architecture. A
project on Architectural and
Urban Design developed by
them was published in the
journal Architecture (no. 1,
December 2008).
The group was established in
September 2009, after several
collaborations at university.
The team carries out its
research activity in Milan.
Their researches mainly focus
on interior architecture with
an emphasis on museums.
In February 2010 they
attended “Building
Greenlife”, a competition
on sustainable housing
organized by the journals
Interni and A2A and held at
Triennale di Milano.
In a reflection on interior architecture, In Between was identified
as the word that best describes places where interiors and exteriors,
inside and outside, emptiness and fullness come together: elements
which seem opposites but actually turn to be complementary.
Recognizing the continuity between a domestic environment and
the outside landscape means to conceive architecture as a unitary and
complex narration in which both characters are inseparable.
Different meditation spaces are analyzed and given as examples of
a kind of architecture which wisely combines indoor spaces with
landscape. Mediation is also considered as an occasion for new
experimentations in contemporary architecture.
Above: E. Elgani, C. Forzatti, M. L. Novarese, F. Vizzi, P. Zocchi. In Between.
38
Appopri Action
Giovanni Fabbrocino, Paolo Giardiello
Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” (Italy)
Giovanni Fabbrocino
Junior architect since 2008.
In 2007 he worked at the
realization of the exhibition
“10 anni di architetture di
Miralles Tagliabue; EMBT
1997/2007 Tradizione del fare”
in Naples. In 2010 he won the
“Lamont Young Utopia prize”,
for experimental projects
and ideas. He also ranked
second in the competition
“ConcorsoGravina 2010”
and was selected for the
workshop “Il teatro in città” at
the Università degli Studi di
Napoli “Federico II”.
Paolo Giardiello
Arch, PhD in Interior
Architecture, he is
Associate Professor in
Interior Architecture and
Museography. Since 2002
he has been member of the
Scientific Commission of the
Master in Interior Architecture
and Museography, Facoltà di
Architettura, Università degli
Studi di Napoli “Federico II”.
He was member of the PhD
Board in Interior Architecture
and Exhibit Design of the
Politecnico di Milano (20032008).
Appropriating a space means taking possession of it, means coming
into contact with the place while relating to it with your own culture,
your own principles, your own necessities.
Appropriating a place, both public or private, means acting on it,
identifying its limits with the tools you have at disposal to define real
“interior” what is not always perceivable as such initially.
So appropriating a space means operating on it, means modifying
the current with the purpose to make habitable places which are not
always cosy, protected or domestic.
Therefore architecture is realized through participation and action
like a spontaneous act, which is not always planned: it is realized by
people, for people, on the basis of real and concrete necessities.
Above: G. Fabbrocino. 2010. Appopri Action.
40
Landscapes
Eleonora Fassina, Luca Messina
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Eleonora Fassina
In 2009 she graduated in
Interior Architecture from
Politecnico di Milano with
the museum project “Stanze
urbane per l’Arte”. She
collected several working
and cultural experiences in
Europe and overseas. She has
been recently selected for an
artist residency program in
the USA lead by architectdirector Robert Wilson.
Since 2009 she has been
collaborating with Milanbased SIXPLUS architects.
The poster is a collage of images taken from interior spaces designed
by famous architects.
There is no clear boundary between images, interiors merge into each
other: the floor becomes a wall, the ceiling melts with the sky. The
aim lies in the representation of the continuity between interior and
exterior spaces, which form a continuous landscape of interiors.
The key word describes originally the exterior spaces – urban and
natural landscape – but in this context it proposes a new look at the
interior world and fills the gap between interiors and exteriors.
Luca Messina
After graduating in Interior
Architecture from Politecnico
di Milano with the winery
project “Una cantina
vinicola nell’Oltrepò”, Luca
Messina has worked in
several architecture offices
specializing in interiors.
For two years he has been
an assistant teacher in
Interior Architecture at
the Politecnico di Milano.
He also collaborates with
SIXPLUS architectural
studio.
Above: L. Messina. 2010. Landscapes.
42
Inside
Massimo Ferrari
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Massimo Ferrari
He is a researcher in
architectural and urban
composition at the
Politecnico di Milano,
where he graduated under
the leadership of Antonio
Monestiroli. Since 2005 he
has hold the Design Lab 3 in
the Facoltà di Architettura.
He obtained the PhD in
Architectural Composition,
IUAV Venezia. His
research focuses on Project
Architecture and its relation
with art. He edited the
following volumes: Antonio
Monestiroli. Opere, progetti
studi di architettura (2002)
and Senza sapere (2003) on
the work of William Xerra.
In 2005 he participated in
the under-50 exhibition
at Triennale Milano with
a project for the town hall
of Canzo (Province of
Como) and in the Festival
of Architecture of Parma. In
2006 he was invited to the
10th Architecture Biennale
in Venice with a project on a
theatre for the city of VEMA.
Our research suggests a reflected comparison, a twofold glance
aimed at studying the architectures into other architectures, as part
of the veiled relationship between internal and external spaces.
Internal architectures, architectures included in other architectures,
and external-internal architectures are comparable images which
tell – up to the oxymoron – the complexity of the topic taken into
consideration, through examples where the project scale allows us to
discover measurable relationships between different spaces, each one
included in the other. The themes developed touch the idea of model
as a simulation, as the matrix of architecture. The subject of measure
demonstrates an inversion in the usual relationship between inside
and outside, opening a new possible evaluation of included space.
Ruccellai chapel and the Holy Sepulchre in Florence, the original
church inside Loreto Abbey, the confessionals in the words of Aldo
Rossi as well as the pictures by Luigi Ghirri confirm the complexity
of the space involved, which is also typical of secular spaces such as
market kiosks or fair stalls.
Above: G. Alessi. 1565 ca. Per il Tempio Della Tentatione. In Libro dei Misteri.
44
Vista
Chris Fersterer
Otago Polytechnic, School of Design (New Zealand)
Chris Fersterer
Her career began as a
production potter in 1976,
followed by formal arts
training in ceramics. This led
to a lecturing position at the
Otago Polytechnic School of
Art (1984-99). In 2000-02
she retrained in architectural
technology and worked as
a freelance architectural
designer. In 2005 she began
lecturing within Otago
Polytechnic’s Product and
Interior Design programs and
she is currently the academic
leader for Interiors. Parallel
study during 2006-2008
at University of Otago,
Design Studies, resulted in
receiving a postgraduate
diploma in consumer and
applied sciences. Her research
continues today within the
Master of Design Enterprise.
Her study into micro
dwelling using ISO
shipping containers and the
significance of ‘place’ within
New Zealand culture led to
the presentation of the design
concept paper BatchBOX
– A Platform for cultural
regeneration presented at
Washington State University.
Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson coined the term Biophillia to
describe “the connections that human beings subconsciously seek
with the rest of life”. Biophillia is recognized as a key theory in
connecting people with nature and a vista can be a strong conduit for
this connection.
This shipping container space responds to Biophilic need by allowing
easy placement in natural environments with minimal site impact.
The opening sides, roof and floor extend like unfurling leaves
creating a visual connection with the external environment, the vista.
The resultant room becomes dominated by the external environment
creating a dynamic and ever changing space keyed to the rhythms
and seasons of the natural world.
The concept of vista is predicated upon natural open spaces being
preserved against urban and human impact, hence the project
responds to a number of environmental issues by exploring micro
dwelling, alternative or remote energy, adaptability and permanency.
Above: C. Fersterer. 2010. Vista.
46
Infra-Malls
Filippo Lambertucci
Università di Roma “Sapienza” (Italy)
Filippo Lambertucci
PhD, he is Assistant
Professor at the Faculty of
Architecture “Ludovico
Quaroni”, Università di
Roma “Sapienza”.
He has taught in several
schools of architecture
in Italy and has been
granted scholarships in
Spain and Denmark. His
research activity focuses on
infrastructure space. In 1996
he established with Pisana
Posocco the architectural
studio LP.: the studio handles
with a variety of projects
ranging from infrastructures
to public buildings and
housing in Italy, for which
they were awarded several
prizes.
The growing demand for mobility requires the development of
new laws for collective interiors at urban scale. The spaces of mass
mobility wedge into the city hybridizing its spaces and consolidated
figures: train stations become shopping malls and new forums
(Germany, Paris, Utrecht, Den Haag); underground lines cross
historical town centres intersecting archaeological layers and
pollinating buildings; whole commercial clusters are turned into
plazas or covered roads parallel to more external ones, less favoured
by climate (Singapore and Canada).
For this reason there is a wide range of interiors generated by
mobility needs which set new issues of scale, shape and meaning in
public and urban dimensions. The drastic symbolic reduction leads
to homologation and unrecognizability of interior spaces; so it seems
appropriate to recognize the significance of the new interiors and
whether and how they can ever replace or mitigate the lack or the
inadequacy of contemporary urban spaces.
Above: R. Koolhaas. 2004. Souterrain Tram Tunnel infra-mall under Den Haag shopping center.
48
Trasformability
Valeria Manzini, Yuri Mastromattei
SIXPLUS architetti, Milano (Italy)
Valeria Manzini
She graduated in Architecture
from Politecnico di Milano
in 1996. From 1997 to 2007
she lived and worked in
London. From 1997 to 1999
she collaborated with London
studio RMJM focusing
on school and university
buildings. Afterwards she
established her own practice:
V+V Interni. Her projects
include the refurbishment
of single family houses and
apartments. In 2007 she cofounded SIXPLUS architects.
Yuri Mastromattei
She is an architecture
graduate from Politecnico di
Milano, where, in 2004, she
completed her Phd in Interior
Architecture and Design.
She worked in architectural
studios Mercuri and
Manolo de Giorgi in Milan
dealing with restoration,
refurbishment and design
projects. She is also an expert
of set and exhibition design.
She is lecturer of Interior
Architecture laboratory
at Politecnico di Milano.
In 2007 she co-founded
SIXPLUS architects.
The poster portrays the steady research activity carried out by
SIXPLUS architects on the endless possibilities of space and thus of
the interiors. Concepts as transformability, flexibility, modularity and
furniture mobility are taken into consideration and three projects
are given as examples: “Passpartù”, “Moving Entrance Hall” and
“Traveling Cinema”. The first is a travelling bookshop realized in
collaboration with the famous publishing company Mursia and
consisting in a trailer that automatically opens and turns into a
shop; the second is the foyer of a movie theatre, clearly representing
flexibility and with special modular furniture that fill in the space.
Last but not least “Traveling Cinema”: a trailer as well which
becomes an open air cinema as a tribute to old movie theatres.
Themes as “container” and “journey” recur again and again to
capture, from the same interior space, the multicoloured Italian
landscape.
Above: V. Manzini, Y. Mastromattei. 2010. Transformability.
50
Versatility
Silvia Terrenghi
FATmaison, Como (Italy)
Silvia Terrenghi
Architect, she graduated in
2006 from Politecnico di
Milano. She is co-founder of
the architectural and design
studio FATmaison. She
boasts some collaborations
with architectural studios
in Barcelona and Lausanne.
She participated in some
prestigious international
competitions, especially in
Dublin and Switzerland.
Currently she is involved in
private internal renovations,
clubs and restaurant design,
design of lamps and eco-sits,
landscape architecture and
new residential dwellings.
She boasts an international
experience: she followed
projects in Prague, Gabon
and Kenya.
Versatility is the ability of an internal space to change shape,
appearance, communication, thickness and quality feel.
The Sink-Hole of Guatemala City, a sui generis internal place,
is the perfect example: here a prudent and focused project can
transform a disaster into a museum of natural light, the only real
element in constant movement. The light is the goal, the mean
and the redemption that move the perception of itself given by an
environment. The Guatemala City Light Museum uses the terror
of the catastrophe to speak a new language of senses. The “sublime”
of J.M.W. Turner is the emotional climax that surrounds this place,
thanks to sharp-shooting rooms of light that must be done by
ordinary city to the underground and are organized in a continuous
dancing movement. Sometimes versatility is also a matter of heart.
Above: S. Terrenghi. 2010. Guatemala City Light Museum, global view of the inside.
52
Inhabiting
Lucilla Zanolari Bottelli
Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Lucilla Zanolari Bottelli
Architect, she has always
studied different cultures
by attending schools in
Switzerland, Italy, USA,
Spain and China. In 2004
she graduated in Architecture
from Politecnico di Milano.
Currently she is an assistant
lecturer in the Architecture
and Design Faculties, while
attending her second year
of the PhD in Interior
Architecture and Exhibition
Design at the Politecnico di
Milano.
The content of the poster is the outline of a walking man.
His shadow is the outline of his house. The image refers to the
way we keep our identity and background, the way we inhabit our
primary surrounding atmosphere. Inhabiting deals with present
time – the contingent trace of the moving sunlight that sketches the
house and the shadow of the individual – as well as with the past
– the reflection that each of the dwellers make in their more intimate
dimension, their house. Inhabiting is a matter of soul as individual or
collective entity. This key-image is not enclosed, it is not on a page or
set into a frame: the identity of interiors is inside the inhabitants and
follows them through lifetime.
Above: L. Zanolari Bottelli. 2010. Inhabiting.
54
Peer Reviewers Panel
Imma Forino
She is architect, PhD, and Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano,
School of Architettura e Società, Department of Progettazione dell’Architettura (DPA). She is
on the Board of the Polytechnico’s PhD in Interior Architecture, and the was in the peer review
committee for the 2nd National Conference of Interior Architecture 2007 (IUAV, Venice), and is
in the organizing committee for the IFW Conferences at the Politecnico di Milano.
Her researches are about interior architecture and furnishing, interior and exhibition design, in a
critical and historical point of view. In 2008 she presented the paper “Living in the Sense of Past”,
in “Living in the Past Conference”, Kingston University, London. Currently, she is studying the
history of the interiors and exhibition designs of contemporary art galleries and is writing a book
on the history of workspaces. She is correspondent of the journal of architecture, art and design
Op.cit. Her main publications are: George Nelson: Thinking (Torino 2004), Eames: Design totale
(Torino 2002), L’interno nell’interno (Firenze 2001). Editor et aliae of Places&Themes of Interiors
(Milano 2008).
Gennaro Postiglione
He is Associate Professor in Interior Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. His research focuses
on domestic interiors, museography and on preserving and diffusing collective memory and
cultural identity, connecting the museographic issues with the domestic ambit. Since 2004 he is
promoter of PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE @ POLIMI, an interdisciplinary research&operative
group that puts the resources of architecture in the service of the public interest. Ongoing works:
“Geografie dell’abbandono”, an investigation on abandoned Italian villages and possible re-activeactions; “War archaeologies”, a research on war remains both in urban contexts and cultural
landscapes; “A+P Smithson as never seen”, a complete collection of their published articles; “MeLA:
Museums and Libraries in/for the Age of Migrations”, an EU Research Grant on the new role of
Museums&Libraries in the Post-National EU society (Project Leader).
He is editor of the architecture magazine AREA and has edited several studies. Main publications:
Unplugged Italy (Siracusa 2010), Places&Themes of Interiors, ed. et aliae (Milano 2008); 100 Houses
for 100 Architects (Kholn 2008), ed.; Sverre Fehn works, with C. Norberg-Schulz (Milano 2007).
Roberto Rizzi
Architect, PhD in Interior Architecture, he is Associate Professor at the Politecnico di Milano
in the Facoltà di Architettura Civile and in the Facoltà del Design. He is on the Board of the
Politechnico’s PhD in Interior Architecture.
He was scientific curator of the Galleria del Design e dell’Arredamento di Cantù and now is
the scientific director of the Albe e Lica Steiner Archive in the Department of Progettazione
dell’Architettura (DPA) at the Politecnico di Milano. He has participated in national and
international research projects studying the design and historic critical character of: domestic and
social housing, office spaces and furniture design, and he has edited the related exhibitions and
publications.
Main publications: ed. et aliae of Design italiano: Compasso d’oro ADI (Cantù 1998); ed. et aliae of
Spazi e arredi per le residenze speciali (Cantù 2002); ed. of Civilization of Living: The Evolution of
European Domestic Interiors (Milano 2003).
57
Editors
Mariella Brenna
She is Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, School of
Architettura e Società, Department of Progettazione dell’Architettura (DPA). She graduated in
1990 with a thesis on museum and building refurbishment (supervisor Prof. F. Drugman). From
1992 to 2000 she was post-doctoral fellow of the Chair of Exhibition Design and Museography
and took part in researches carried out by MURST and the Faculty of Architecture. In 2000 she
held a research scholarship for the project “Museum of Labour”. Between 2001 and 2005 she
worked in the Department of Architectural Design, first as a temporary teacher of Museography,
Museology and Criticism of Arts and Restoration, and later as a regular teacher of Architectonic
Planning. She developed in association with Prof. L. Basso Peressut projects for museum
exhibitions in Milan and Lodi. She has also taught courses for museum operators and conducted
researches on museum standards on behalf of the IRER.
Lola Ottolini
She graduated with a degree in Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano.
PhD in Architecture and Interior Design, she is currently Researcher in Interior Design and
Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, Facoltà di Architettura
Civile. She is involved in the development of researches and projects in the
fields of Exhibit Design, Interior Design and Set Design, including: “Fausto Melotti. Ceramic
Works”, MART (Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto) 2003; “Medardo
Rosso. At the origin of modern sculture”, MART 2004; “In the House of Luigi Figini”, Triennale
di Milano 2004, “Rights and reverses”, Triennale di Milano 2004; “Mitomacchina”, MART
2005; “ Franco Albini. Museums and Exhibit Design”, Politecnico di Milano 2005; “Milano scali
ferroviari”, Urban Center, Milano 2010.
She designed and built a prototype of minimal housing exhibited at the show “One Man Living”,
Politecnico di Milano, 2008 (www.onemanliving.project.com).
58
Assistant Editor
Viviana Saitto
In 2006 she became an architect after her studies at the Facoltà di Architettura of the Università
degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”.
Specialized in Interior, Home and Graphic Design she was the promoter of the exhibition “10 anni
di architetture di Miralles/Tagliabue”, held in Naples.
In the 2009 she wrote “Margini. Parte integrante del progetto di interni” and “Interni Urbani, due
casi emblematici” for the magazine Area and co-edited with Paolo Giardiello the volume Smallness
Abitare al minimo (Clean 2009). Now she is attending the PhD program in Interior Architecture at
the Politecnico di Milano.
59