Potential In Ruin | Adaptive Reuse In The Context Of Unfinished Italy

POTENTIAL IN RUIN

ADAPTIVE REUSE IN THE CONTEXT OF UNFINISHED ITALY

POTENTIAL IN RUIN ‘THE

GREENEST

BUILDING

IS

THE

ONE

ALREADY

STANDING’ CARL ELEFANTE

AS GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES AND PERFORMANCE TARGETS RAMP UP TO PREVENT IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO THE PLANET, ARCHITECTS ARE CONTINUALLY CHALLENGED TO DESIGN NEW BUILDINGS TO MEET ENERGY STANDARDS. WHILE TECHNOLOGIES, DESIGN AND MATERIALS CONTINUE TO ADVANCE BUILDING PERFORMANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF NEW BUILDINGS INEVITABLY REQUIRES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ENERGY AND RESOURCES. A STUDY BY PRESERVATION GREEN LAB FOUND THAT NEW BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED AT TODAY’S ENERGY STANDARDS CAN TAKE UP TO 80 YEARS TO MAKE UP FOR THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. AT THE SAME TIME, THOUSANDS OF RURAL VILLAGES AND AGRICULTURAL CENTERS ACROSS SOUTHERN EUROPE HAVE BEEN ABANDONED AS ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS FORCE RURAL FLIGHT. SIMILARLY, SPECULATIVE CONSTRUCTION IMPACTED BY THE 2008 ECONOMIC CRISIS RESULTED IN OVER 11 MILLION UNFINISHED STRUCTURES ACROSS EUROPE. MY TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP ITINERARY HAS 2 PARTS: (1) TO DOCUMENT SOME OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS MODERN RUINS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE (2) TO VISIT A HANDFUL OF REMARKABLE ARCHITECTURAL RE-USE PROJECTS IN SIMILAR LOCATIONS - EACH OF WHICH COMBINE INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY WITH PREVIOUSLY DISUSED BUILDINGS. MY GOAL IS TO SHARE AN INSIGHT INTO THIS ECONOMIC AND ARCHITECTURAL REALITY THAT EXISTS THROUGHOUT EUROPE - PRESENTED ALONGSIDE RADICAL RE-USE PROJECTS THAT WILL INSPIRE OTHERS TO CONSIDER THE POTENTIAL OF ARCHITECTURAL REGENERATION. WHEN EXECUTED PERFECTLY, ARCHITECTURAL RE-USE CAN RESULT IN UNIQUE SPACES WHILE PRESERVING RESOURCES, LIMITING ENERGY USE AND MEETING PROGRESSIVE SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS. ITINERARY 10 DAYS - 2 WEEKS TRAVELLING TO: MODERN RUINS ADAPTIVE RE-USE

SPAIN, ITALY AND GREECE OR PORTUGAL

LA FABRICA EL TEATRO GUCCI HUB Shed #19 ARQUIPELAGO - CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER

| | | | | |

RICARDO BOFILL TALLER DE ARQUITECTURA CADAVAL Y SOLA MORALES PIUARCH Andrea Oliva Architetto JOAO MEDES RIBEIRO + MENOS E MAIS ARQUITECTOS + MANY MORE

DELIVERABLES PHOTOGRAPHS, SKETCHES, MAPS AND INTERVIEWS WITH FOSBURY + INCOMPIUTO SICILIANO (PUBLISHERS OF ‘The Great Database of Unfinished Works in Italy’) PRESENTED IN A BOOK ILLUSTRATING THE ESSENCE AND IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATION AND RE-USE AS THE KEY TO LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY. ALL TOGETHER, I HOPE TO CONTINUE THE SUSTAINABILITY DISCOURSE AND ENCOURAGE THE IDEA OF BUILDINGS HAVING MULTIPLE LIFE-SPANS RATHER THAN SHORT TERM DELIVERABLES.

BACKGROUND | MODERN RUINS | ADAPTIVE REUSE | TRAVEL AREAS OF PREVIOUS STUDY THAT HAVE FORMED THE BASIS OF MY INTERESTS IN ADAPTIVE REUSE. WHAT STARTED AS AN INTEREST IN PRESERVING HISTORIC BUILDINGS, EXPANDED INTO RESEARCH ABOUT THE STATE OF MODERN RUINS IN SPAIN AND THE EFFECTS OF THE 2008 ECONOMIC CRISIS, AND LEAD TO THE SPECULATION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ABANDONED BUILDINGS. HISTORIC REGENERATION | MARCHD YEAR 1 SPECULATIVE ADAPTIVE REUSE | UNFINISHED MADRID | MARCHD YEAR 2 UNFINISHED BUILDING DOCUMENTATION | ESPACIOS INACABADOS

Convento Sao Bento de Castris Evora, Portugal

[HISTORIC REGENERATION]

[Unfinished Madrid] The Story

[UNFINISHED MADRID]

[Unfinished Madrid] The Story

[UNFINISHED MADRID]

[Espacios] Inacabados | Unfinished [Spaces]

[Espacios] Inacabados | Unfinished [Spaces]

[Espacios] Inacabados | Unfinished [Spaces]

BACKGROUND | MODERN RUINS | ADAPTIVE REUSE | TRAVEL EXPLORING UNFINISHED ITALY NO COUNTRY IS RICHER IN RUINS AND THEREFOR RICHER IN DREAMS THAN ITALY. IT HAS EVERYTHING: CLASSICAL GREECE, CLASSICAL ROME, THE BAROQUE ERA, THE MODERN ERA, AND WHAT YOU’D CALL THE POSTMODERN ERA. A PARTICULAR KIND OF RUIN DEVELOPED IN THE 1950’S, 1960’S AND 1970’S AND ON INTO THE 1980’S AND 1990’S, UP TO THE PRESENT: THE INCOMPLETE RUIN. NOT A BUILDING OR MONUMENT THAT WAS TORN APART; RATHER, ONE THAT WAS NEVER COMPLETELY FINISHED. THIS KIND OF ARCHITECTURE CREATES A DIFFERENT TYPE OF RUIN BECAUSE THE ADDITIONS AND SUBTRACTIONS FROM THE WHOLE ARE ARBITRARY IN WAYS THAT ARE COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE. IT IS ALMOST AS IF A SURREALIST-LIKE BUILDER HAD SUDDENLY STARTED AND SUDDENLY STOPPED FOR REASONS YOU WILL NEVER DIVINE. THUS, YOU MAY ENCOUNTER STAIRCASES THAT LEAD TO NOWHERE AND POSTS THAT SUPPORT NOTHING. EVERY KIND OF ANOMALY OF ARCHITECTURE OCCURS. THE PLEASURE OF LOOKING AT THESE RUINS IS THE PLEASURE OF FIGURING OUT HOW THEY GOT WHERE THEY DID AND WHY THEY STOPPED AS THEY DID. IT IS A STYLE WHICH IS INTERNATIONAL, IN A WAY, BUT IT IS PECULIARLY ITALIAN, IN FACT PECULIARLY SICILIAN SINCE THIS IS THE REGION WHERE IT BEGAN. [ROBERT STORR, NEW YORK 2018]

UNFINISHED [SICILY] IS AN ARCHITECTURAL STYLE. PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ITALIAN STYLE SINCE THE 2ND WORLD WAR.

[Benoit Felici]

[SICILY ROUTE]

[NORTH ITALY ROUTE]

CATANIA [SPORTS COMPLEX]

GIARRE [STADIUM]

CATENANUOVA [PUBLIC POOL]

LEONFORTE [SPORTS CENTER]

[LOCAL RESIDENT]

I ENJOY THIS TYPE OF RUIN A GREAT DEAL, AND IN SOME WAYS EVEN BETTER THAN I LIKE THE OLD RUINS BECAUSE THOSE TEACH YOU LOSS, EVOKING AN UNAPPROACHABLE GOLDEN AGE, WHEREAS THIS CONTEMPORARY TYPE OF RUIN IS APPROACHABLE. IT’S SCALE IS IMPRESSIVE. IT’S SURFACES, EVEN IF SO ROUGH, ARE IMPRESSIVE. THE HUMANITY OF IT IS MANIFEST, INCLUDING IT’S FOOLISHNESS. SO THAT IS TO BE CONSIDERED AS A PHILOSOPHICAL OBJECT.

[ROBERT STORR, NEW YORK 2018]

BLUFI [DAM]

[LOCAL FARMER WHO LOST HIS DOG IN THE DAM]

[PEOPLE FOR SCALE]

[SHORT CUTS TO FIND ABANDONED BUILDINGS...]

MILENIA [PUBLIC POOL]

ARGONA [THEATER]

[LITERALLY TOO MANY UNFINISHED BUILDINGS TO COUNT. THIS WAS JUST ONE PART OF OUR DRIVE IN BETWEEN DESTINATIONS]

[ITALY] REALLY IS WELL-VERSED IN THE FINE ART OF LEAVING THINGS HALF-DONE. ALSO FOR THIS REASON IT MAY BE CONSIDERED THE CRADLE PAR EXCELLENCE OF THE ARCHITECTURAL UNFINISHED - IRONICALLY ENOUGH JUST AS IT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE: THE CRADLE PAR EXCELLENCE OF ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE. HOWEVER, THERE IS MORE: IN ITALY, NOT ONLY DOES THE ARCHITECTURAL UNFINISHED PERSIST AS TANGIBLE PROOF OF WIDESPREAD POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AD SOCIAL MALPRACTICE, BUT - BY TRACING THE TERRITORIES AND MAPPING THE LANDSCAPES IN WHICH IT IS TO BE FOUND - HERE IT MAY EVEN ACHIEVE THE STATUS OF ‘STYLE’.

[MARCO BIRAGHI, MILAN, 2018]

AGRIGENTO

[STADIUM]

SCIACCA [RESIDENCES]

[UNFINISHED]

SAMBUCA [SPORTS COMPLEX]

NUOVA GIBELLINA

[CIVIC CENTER]

WHAT IS A STYLE? A TRAIT WHICH IS BOTH SHARED AND A SYMBOL OF DISTINCTION WHICH IDENTIFIES AND GRASPS THE SIGNS OF IT’S TIMES. IT HAS AN AESTHETIC, ETHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL EFFECTS. IT IS A REPEATABLE PRACTICE WHICH LAYS DOWN, STRATIFIES AND PRODUCES FOLLOWERS AND VARIATIONS ON A THEME. IT IS A MATERIAL, COLOR, INSTRUMENTS, FORM AND LANGUAGE. IT LEAVES PECULIAR, INDELIBLE MARKS. IT TELLS THE STORY OF A WORLD AND A PERIOD IN TIME THROUGH MARKS, SIGNS OR TRAITS, INTERNAL COHERENCES. BUT, IN ORDER TO BE ALL THIS, DOES IT NOT ALSO NEED TO BE AWARE? I DON’T THINK SO.

[WU MING, BOLOGNA, 2008]

PALERMO [UNKNOWN]

VICENZA

VICENZA [CHURCH]

MILANO [TRAIN STATION]

BACKGROUND | MODERN RUINS | ADAPTIVE REUSE | TRAVEL FOUR EXEMPLAR PROJECTS THAT REIMAGINED PREVIOUSLY ABANDONED STRUCTURES, EACH WITH A UNIQUE ADAPTATION STRATEGY. ABANDONED ABANDONED ABANDONED ABANDONED

BELL FACTORY | ESPACIO BARBERI | RCR CONCRETE FACTORY | LA FABRICA | RBTA WATER PUMP FACTORY | STUDIO WORKSHOP | STUDIO AMAA DISTILLERY | FONDAZIONE PRADA | OMA

RCR [ESPACIO BARBERI] [OLOT, SPAIN]

[ABANDONED BELL FACTORY]

[GOOGLE IMAGES]

[GOOGLE IMAGES]

RBTA [LA FABRICA] [BARCELONA, SPAIN]

[ABANDONED CONCRETE FACTORY C. 1970’S. IMAGES COURTESY OF RBTA]

AMAA

[WORKSHOP] [ARZIGNANO, ITALY]

[ABANDONED WATER PUMP FACTORY C.2010’S. Images by The Cool Couple, courtesy of AMAA]

OMA [FONDAZIONE PRADA] [MILANO, ITALY]

[ABANDONED DISTILLERY C. 2010’S]

BACKGROUND | MODERN RUINS | ADAPTIVE REUSE | TRAVEL SIGHTS AND STOPS ALONG THE WAY OLOT BARCELONA CATANIA PALERMO VERONA MILANO

[OLOT]

[BARCELONA]

[BARCELONA | WALDEN 7]

[BARCELONA | ABANDONED BUILDING TRES CHIMENEAS]

[CATANIA]

[PALERMO]

[PALERMO]

[VERONA]

[CASTLEVECCIO MUSEUM]

[MILANO]

[MILANO FASHION WEEK]

[MILANO]

[ANDREA CRUDELI]

[FIN]

[BEST PIZZA IN MILAN...SO I WAS TOLD]