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Architectural Competition

The “Magnifica Fabbrica” International Design Competition, promoted by the Municipality of Milan with the Fondazione Teatro alla Scala, has selected as the winning entry the design proposal of the Italo-Spanish group composed of FRPO Rodriguez y Oriol and WALK Architecture & Landscape of Madrid and SD Partners of Milan. 

The competition brief envisages the creation of the new site for the Teatro alla Scala laboratories and warehouses and the expansion of Parco della Lambretta, with the aim of regenerating the area located in the Lambrate district, once occupied by the Innocenti car manufacturer plant and now involved in a urban regeneration process. 

The intention is to create a new cultural, artistic and production centre, bringing all the phases of the creative process into close proximity, from design to production, offering the public the chance to take part in the birth of the shows, and to bring citizens closer to the world of theater. 

In addition to that, the expansion of Parco della Lambretta is aimed to become a real landmark for the district, as well as a place for gathering and leisure time. It will include the recovery and integration in the park of the so-called “Palazzo di Cristallo”, a monumental testimony of industrial archaeology.

The designers responsible for the winning proposal are: Pablo Oriol and Fernando Rodriguez for FRPO, Juan Tur Mc Glone for WALK and Massimo Giuliani, Alessandro Viganò and Beatrice Meroni for SD Partners. 

The multidisciplinary team also included Studio Gibelli, Ing. Luca Stefanutti, Agroservice, TRM and Mecanismo Ingegneria. 

The competition was divided in two phases in an open anonymous form and received a total of 59 entries.

Programmatic units

Milan, a metropolis in constant movement, dynamic and productive, always reinventing itself, today opens its secret heart. A heart in which others beat, with different rhythms, moved by skillful hands that forge treasures invisible to most. Vibrating center of the city and meeting point between industriousness and genius, La Scala and the Magnifica Fabbrica, are called today to take a new step in the history of the city.

Technology, culture and landscape

Magnificent for its size and location, the new Fabbrica will open its treasures to the public view to reveal the work of artists who create true works of art for La Scala shows. The Magnifica Fabbrica will thus be able to reveal its light and illuminate the renewal of the city, rebuilding a new balance between technology, culture and landscape, caring for the environment as a home, and reconnecting the living fabric of the city.

Biodiversity Green Factory

The expansion of the Parco della Lambretta will accompany the new Magnifica Fabbrica as the driving force behind the transformation of the ex-Innocenti area, whose soul will be the recovery of the grandiose structure of the Palazzo di Cristallo, the former production site for millions of lambrettas that have filled the streets of Italy and the world, and that will become a Green Biodiversity Factory, a place for citizens to participate in a great collective work of art, to fill the future of the city with green.

Canals, meadows, and rows of trees

The Parco della Lambretta project exemplifies a balanced relationship between natural resources and human activities, conceiving the landscape as a resilient green infrastructure. It is based on a circular concept of the water cycle, an element that has characterized the development of the city, inspired by the traditional elements of Milan’s agricultural heritage: canals, ditches, meadows, pedestrian paths and rows of trees, offering a natural environment and a usable public space for all. Water regains its leading role and becomes an indissoluble link between the Parco and the Fabbrica through the Water Gardens, a large green infrastructure for natural phytopurification, which will offer unique educational and sensory experiences.

Zero Energy Building

The Magnifica Fabbrica will be a ZEB (Zero Energy Building), it will produce more energy than it will consume, with a 3,600 kW photovoltaic system on the translucent roof and a gigantic open-cycle geothermal system, which will contribute to the purification of groundwater. The aim is to create a more rational and sustainable place, where La Scala’s production, rehearsal and storage operations can be combined in a very precise spatial design, responding to the needs raised by the Teatro alla Scala in the international competition.

The Torre dell’Acqua, a symbol of renewal

The new building and the park merge into the Piazza della Torre dell’Acqua, a symbol of renewal. The Space of Dreams sits at the head of the Fabbrica, a large container of visions of the future, where La Scala will be the protagonist of a revitalization that will involve schools, associations, companies, institutions, organizations.

Magic behind the scenes

Beginning and ending in the square, the Anello is a journey that will take the visitor to discover the magical world “behind the scenes”: more than 65,000 square meters of production spaces for sets, tailors, props, dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, warehouses and deposits. The new Magnifica Fabbrica will be open those who wish to witness the cultural and creative life that is hidden in this attractive heart.

The post Magnifica Fabbrica was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The new Cosmote TV building is the outcome of the transformation of a former industrial venue into offices and studios, aspiring to become a landmark for its area at large. Following the structure of the existing building, the design introduces three programmatic zones with different heights and qualities. In the middle, among the offices, television studios and technical rooms, the Plaza becomes the building’s central square, a meeting area for all employees. This “heart” of the building, which includes open plan workspaces, is endowed with a mezzanine and a bridge, connecting separate sectors. Along the bridge, existing columns were treated as “trees” growing from the ground, with their “branches” covering the “sky” of the Plaza. The transformation of the building relied on the use of high-tech tensile membrane in the interior, while the curved white zones of bioclimatic cantilevers provide shade at a distance from the façade, in a strikingly dynamic result. 

LC Architects

George Fakaros

256 | April 2021

The post Cosmote TV was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

At a dead-end of Sarri Street in Athens, the old, two-story foundry, built in 1930, is radically remodeled to house a boutique hotel with twelve independent suites.

From the entrance of the building to the planted roof, elements of Athenian history, the industrial character of Psirri district, the Greek landscape and materiality (marble, terrazzo, and stone) are brought together in a contemporary architectural design.

The building’s total area of 860m² is distributed in five levels. The basement accommodates all service areas, and the ground floor houses the reception. The hotel’s 12 apartments occupy the other three floors, and the terrace is planted with Greek varieties, providing a quiet, relaxing space looking over the city’s historical center.

The guiding principle during the design process was respect for the structural shell of the property, for its singular volumetric character, as well as provision for integrating key features of its architectural identity into its newest incarnation.

The building was structurally reinforced to withstand the weight of the planted roof, and its new use as a boutique hotel. Vertically arranged industrial windows were replaced with new, iron frames of the same appearance, bearing double glazing. Concurrently, all stone walls of the property were restored and highlighted.

Two recent additions to the building, informal structures dating from the 1990ies, were incorporated in the design as green cubes-parasites, underscored with visibly standing-out materials: their free-standing platforms were framed in Greek plants (horizontally and vertically), and the new rectangular openings, with cor-ten steel details and aluminum frames, channel the view to selected vanishing points.

Efi Malandraki,

Miltiadis Portokalis

The post The Foundry was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The apartment building, following the requirements of the mid-nineteenth century, is dated between 1902 and 1903. It is an industrial building, marked by the proximity to the train station. The building has a free floor plan, built with several bays of wooden supports independent from the adobe block partition and its solid brick facades.

The intervention is characterized by the formal purification of the complex typology. The latter is the result of a long floor plan, with bedrooms and outbuildings attached to interior patios, but with two facades immediately connected to Muro and Gamazo streets. The east façade is used for morning light for the bedrooms and the west façade for afternoon light for the living areas.

The intention of the project is the complete liberation of the facades, integrating all the service spaces in the less illuminated areas, generating a central amoeba, disaggregated, raised a few centimeters for technical reasons, to absorb the irregularities of a singular geometry.

The rest of the house is resolved by means of two pieces of furniture. These pieces of furniture follow the privacy of the spaces: The first one, slightly thicker, is attached to the dividing wall of the building, marking the transition from the public to the private area (dining room-pantry-laundry-dressing room). The second is arranged like a herringbone (kitchen-hall-access cabinet-room) crossing the house through the central part.

The house responds to a contemporary way of life, eliminating the typology associated with the old ways of living, but, at the same time, incorporating inherited elements, such as the wooden supports, and the brick east façade or the views over calle Muro. This is intended to add a new layer, which does not completely erase the traces of the past but establishes a conversation, adding a new chapter to the contemporary discourse on housing.

Alvaro Moral,
Daniel González,
Manuel Cuadrado

Javier Bravo

The post Apartment in Valladolid was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Transforming an abandoned industrial building from the 1960s to a state-of-the-art gym, provided the opportunity for Cyprus-based ADP Architecture Design Practice to pay tribute to the building’s heritage and maintain elements from its past. The main building has been restored to encompass all the activities and needs of the gym such as areas for free-weights and weight equipment, an MMA cage, and Martial Arts area. Concurrently, the mezzanine hosts supporting functions and the old annex is reconnected to the main building to provide space for changing rooms and lavatories.

The front façade has been completely reimagined, half escaping the concrete envelope and providing the illusion of a solid corten block when approaching from the west and the other half is dominated by a curtain wall that opens visibility between the public busy street and the gym’s main space.

While the roof has been replaced, the new metal structure follows the original wooden beams and a secondary support system allows the exposed services to suspend mid-air. A tailored lighting plan signposts circulation and activity zones with emphasis placed in the elevated cage area aiming to showcase the protagonists of the fight.

Completing an adaptive reuse project is a challenge on its own. Even more so, when the project requires a speedy construction time of only four months, taking place during a global pandemic with restrictions in factories and construction sites imposed. The excellent communication between the design and construction teams and use of BIM systems to coordinate information has been instrumental in achieving the complex construction of the exposed services in a matter of weeks as well as dealing with an existing structure of the 60s.

Lelita Ioannidou, Director at ADP Architecture Design Practice comments: “We are extremely excited to play our part in the revitalisation of the industrial area of Egkomi and as strong advocates of reuse and we hope that this project inspires a wider adaptation of local industrial heritage.”

ADP Architecture Design Practice

Unseen Views

The post Molon Labe Gym was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club’s new Dock Building is an example of industrial architectural elegance crafted from a modest budget.

The Dock Building, located on Jericho Beach in Vancouver, BC, serves a large marina of sailboats. The facility provides washrooms and showers, offices for the Harbour Master, instruction space for children, and a variety of workshops to maintain boats, sails, and gear. The project’s practical working needs, very modest budget, and prominent siting required a simple solution that honoured the cannery and industrial heritage of waterfront buildings that were once found on the site a half-century before.

The massing is simple. Two intersecting wedge volumes mirror each other to create a lantern to the sea and a lantern to the land. Facing land is a glulam and translucent polycarbonate wall that brings light into the workshop spaces and glows along the beach at night. Facing the sea and the marina itself are a series of garage doors opening to the shop bays as well as glazed offices for the management of the docks. A wood screen above the offices hides the mechanical systems in the high volume of the wedge that faces the water. A knife-edge gutter provides an overhang for the shop doors mimicking the razor edge forms of the racing sailboats that line the dock.

The building resides on the waters’ edge just where high tide meets the beach. Almost half of the project budget went to the foundation and piles, leaving the design team with the challenge of meeting the project’s functional needs while delivering something more meaningful to the community.

White standing seam panels are used for the exterior in the spirit of the forms and colour of the sails and boats. The structure is a mix of glulam posts and beams with light timber infill decking and walls. The interior is predominantly construction-grade plywood, providing a tough, easily replaceable interior finish. Throughout, the details are modest and practical to work with the limited project budget.

MGA | Michael Green Architecture

The post The Dock Building was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The new Manufacturing, Technology and Engineering Center (MTEC) at Daley College is an addition to the Richard J. Daley campus. The MTEC sets the framework for a wider master plan. The project unifies the existing complex by creating a campus environment with engaging pathways and collaborative spaces throughout.

Rising from the transformed parking lot, the MTEC project speaks to issues larger than architecture; it seeks to revitalize a Chicago southwest neighborhood by creating a connective message that all are significant and welcome. Daley College tasked JGMA with removing the negative stereotypes that exist in the workforce when pertaining to manufacturing careers. Often suggesting these careers as devoid of dignity and reserved typically for minority populations. The project reverses the misconception through a design focused on celebrating state-of-the-art manufacturing spaces and proves careers in this industry require tech and skills as advanced as any other.

The design strategy utilizes building transparency to showcase machines, equipment, and products integral to the learning objectives of the colleges as well as provide a visual connection to the surrounding West Lawn community. The seamless fluidity to the building’s form was inspired by the constant and linear flow of the manufacturing process. The building spans the main thoroughfare with a strong industrial bridge that links the south and north campus of Daley College.

The new building celebrates the manufacturing industry through the expression of materials such as metal panels, glass, and exposed steel. In addition, the underside of the elevated bridge is intentionally painted caution yellow, bringing the manufacturing expression to the exterior.

The transparency of the building provides a similar experience for even the casual passerby, by providing a look into the advanced technical nature of manufacturing today.

The project challenges the latent stereotypes of a community college and alters the psychology of simply crossing the street to go to class. Through dynamic spatial organizations and site responsive architecture, the MTEC provides students and staff a unique experience from the moment they walk into the building. The circulation spaces inside the building intentionally collide with seating areas, platforms, and alcoves to encourage students to congregate and participate in incidental learning between peers. There is a combination of exterior and interior terraces for users to enjoy in the warm weather months. These green areas facilitate the students’ and faculty’s interaction providing connections with nature and lead to increased cognitive function and wellness, as well as creating a more unified campus.

As the MTEC is now the front door to the campus, thorough analysis was conducted to the user experience with regards to security, wayfinding, and new learning opportunities. It was imperative that the new addition set-up a framework for further transformation of the existing building while still celebrating its current legacy. The unique exterior façade of the MTEC building is phase one in a masterplan to completely rebrand and re-clad the existing facilities to create one new energized campus.

The new building will not only be a catalyst for growth and change within City Colleges of Chicago, but also inspire the pursuit of manufacturing careers as a sophisticated and high-tech learning path.

JGMA

The post Daley College was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Vienna and Linz-based practice destilat completely reorganized and redesigned Weinmanufaktur Clemens Strobl in 2019, as the centerpiece of a historical 4,000-m² ensemble that includes business premises and a manor house in Kirchberg am Wagram (Lower Austria).

The interior design distinguishes itself with building-block-like cubes, light as a central design element, grey in all its nuances, and aesthetics that highlight the work processes involved in wine-making. A vaulted cellar, tasting room, kitchen, and office form massive spatial components that are interwoven into the structural shell, define spatial borders and take over several functions.

The vast open spaces between these components make them usable in many different ways and provide a big stage for light and all its effects. Exposed concrete walls, polished concrete floors, grey varnished spruce wood, anthracite-coloured Eternit, scaled steel, glass, and grey-washed brickwork – that is the combination of historic and modern materials characterizes the interior design, as its reduced colour palette brings out the fine nuances of the materials’ aesthetics.

Elements of industrial architecture underline that these premises are used for work; the characteristics of the wine as a natural product are translated in a puristic and simplified way, with a sober charm. These aesthetics also have a significant impact on the outdoor areas.

The project is the winner of the Large Workspace category at the 2020 Dezeen Design Awards.

destilat design studio

Monika Nguyen

The post Weinmanufaktur Clemens Strobl was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

How to make the best use of the urban and architectural heritage that has been passed on through history in Mexico City to generate inclusive and connective spaces that allow members of society to live in a prosperous and harmonious environment?

Dr. Atl 285 was built in the late ’60s. It is located in the neighborhood of Santa Maria la Ribera. This building exemplifies the proper exploitation of heritage under the premise of bringing benefits to the population and the environment while preserving and rescuing cultural legacy. The area where it is located is undergoing a densification process, and due to its proximity to the city center, it holds a historical character that has attracted a young population that intends to live near cultural and economic centers.

The building was designed based on a reticular structure of reinforced concrete beams and columns, due to its previous industrial vocation, creating diaphanous spaces without dividing walls.

A configuration system was proposed to take advantage of the geometry in the existing structure, relying on placing cubic elements of wood to provide private areas and also to generate a modular design that could be replicated according to the different programs, sizes, and configurations in order to meet the market’s needs.

The original building’s use also implied a challenge for the design and location of circulations, which were placed on the backyard patio, using a permeable construction system that allows natural light to pass through. With a triangular geometry for balconies and the corridor system’s replica, it was possible to preserve the original façade profile without affecting the apartments’ lighting.

The biggest challenge for Dr. Atl 285 was integrating its inhabitants within the social tissue of the neighborhood. The use of outdoor spaces, such as patios and the rooftop, created common areas that encourage coexistence. Furthermore, it improved the user experience while adding architectural value and promoting a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. The roof garden is used as an urban garden. It produces food for all users while causing a social connection among all the neighbors.

A water treatment plant was placed under the old courtyard to eliminate drainage discharges. It recirculates 100% of the water used. On top, a tree garden welcomes users creating the feeling of a park, regenerating the air quality of the entire building.

The project aims to demonstrate the adaptability of architecture in the existing resources, the regenerative potential of the city, and the ability to generate sustainable projects nowadays. All this to preserve the cultural and architectural heritage through the restoration of these constructions and projects, not only to maintain the presence of each neighborhood but also to reduce the environmental impact of real estate development.

This vision and circumstances made the project evolve into a much more sustainable version of itself than was originally expected. A water treatment plant that helps save up to 45% of water, a tree garden on the ground floor and a vegetable garden on the roof, combined with the rest of the strategies involved, make Dr. Atl 285 excel in terms of sustainability, turning it into an outstanding example among projects of its kind.

Alfonso Quiñones – BAAQ´

The post Dr. Atl 285 was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The final decisions on the best architects 21 award are in. With almost 400 entries, the number of participants was higher than ever before. The diversity and range of the projects submitted was impressive, but at the same time a challenge for this year’s jury.

«It is exciting to see the vibrant way in which architecture is developing. Architects are meeting new challenges with a good deal of creativity and courage and are producing some surprising new solutions as a result. Most are guided by a strong concept that goes beyond formal approaches and does justice to the durability of the architecture and the often changing use over time. That development was recognised with this year’s award-winning projects.»

(Tobias Schwarzer, founder of the best architects award)

The jury consisting of Professor Johannes Modersohn (Berlin), Yves Moreau (Paris) and Patrick Schmid (Zurich) honoured 80 projects with the «best architects 21» award. An additional 11 projects received the distinction «best architects 21 in Gold» for their outstanding quality.

«With almost 400 project entries, it is not easy to set the evaluation criteria. The spectrum of submissions ranged from the largely faithful renovation of a stellar architectural residential building from the 1960s to an investors’ urban office complex and an architectural sculpture that ostensibly has no function. Is it even possible to define criteria that allow for the comparison of such diverse interventions? And whose achievement should win an award? Of course, the best architects award is primarily aimed at architects, but every architect knows that their work alone is not enough to create a good building. The role that the developers and authorities play is just as critical. A building of exceptional quality is therefore also always evidence of the particularly constructive collaboration of all parties concerned.

If we now consider the results of our adjudication process, then it is obvious that all the award-winning projects are characterised by exactly that kind of interaction between all participants. But they not only satisfy the original requirements by means a good compromise. Instead they manage to achieve something at a higher level on the basis of strong ideas. These projects thus make a contribution to our society.»

(Patrick Schmid / Schmid Schärer Architekten, Zurich)

The Gold winners of the best architects 21 award

In the «Residential single-family» category, the gold winners were the architectural firms Aretz Dürr Architekten from Cologne (DE) with their project «House D // 6» as well as Kast Kaeppeli Architekten from Bern (CH) and their project «Jurastrasse 58» and the Lukas Lenherr Architektur practice from Zurich (CH) for their project «Small house».

For their exceptionally creative and innovative residential buildings in the «Residential multi-family» category, the firms Atelier EGR Architectes from Marseille (FR) and their project «Jouques», BS+EMI Architektenpartner from Zurich (CH) and their project «Am Katzenbach IV/V Residential Complex», the Michael Meier und Marius Hug Architekten practice from Zurich (CH) with their project «Allenmoosstrasse Residential Building» and the firm Rapin Saiz Architectes from Vevey (CH) with their «Renovation and Elevation of a Residential Building» project also received a gold award.

A further gold distinction in the «Office and Administrative Buildings» category went to the «Hilti Office Mitte» project by the Giuliani Hönger Architekten practice from Zurich (CH).

In the «Commercial and Industrial Buildings» category, the SLIK Architekten firm from Zurich (CH) won a gold award with the project «Yond».

Additional gold awards in the «Educational Buildings» category went to the ARGE Architekten Hull Inoue Radlinsky + Wolfgang Rossbauer consortium from Zurich (CH) for its «Marzili Primary School» project.

In the «Public Buildings» category, the consortium ARGE Joos & Mathys Architekten / Daniel Nyffeler Architekten from Zurich (CH) scored a gold with its «Rüti ZH Parish Hall» project.

All the award-winning projects can be seen at www.bestarchitects.de.

About the Best Architects Award

The best architects award was created in 2006 to filter out the best and most interesting architectural projects the German-speaking countries have to offer in order to present them to a broad, interested public. In 2015, the award competition was opened up to participants across Europe.

The award is conferred each year on completed architecture projects that are distinguished by outstanding architectural quality. An independent jury of prominent architects awards the «best architects» label and the «best architects in gold» label for exceptional quality.

Due to the constantly increasing number of participants and the exceptionally high standard of submissions, the award has become a significant event in the world of architecture. The award, and the lavish publication that documents all the award-winning projects in depth, offer potential developers guidance and contribute to the dialogue concerning architectural culture. The award also allows award-winning architects and/or architectural firms to stand out in the market place and to position themselves at the forefront of the international architectural scene.

Best Architects 21

The post Best Architects 21 Award Results was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.