A R C H I T E C T U R E S
Villa Neuendorf, 1991
Maison B, 1992
Giorgio Armani stores (London 2003)
The first really convincing experiment in stone by Claudio Silvestrin is in Villa Neuendorf, the design for a residence in Majorca, based on the Mediterranean theme of the interconnections between internal spaces and open spaces. The latter are laid out as patios and areas equipped for spending free time. They feature the extensive presence of local Santanyi stone, which is able to clearly mark out the course of the landscape with its cream and hazelnut hues against the brown earth of the location. Bordering the main parts of the construction, the Santanyi flooring becomes a continuous bench from which to contemplate the surroundings. In this way, the attachment to the ground of a traditional division of the vertical structures into three parts is resolved, with the central core of the elevations made substance by the bulk of the walls, the colour of burnt earth, and finally, the summit, marked on high by the single, narrow line of separation from the intense blue of the sky. At the entrance to the covered areas, the flooring, in local stone, is fashioned into furniture, not just a bench but also a table, decisively raising itself from the ground in order to interact with the inhabitants of the house.
In a residential construction to restore existing buildings in Provence, where, once again, stone is the primary horizontal plane of the ground surface, space is made for two of Silvestrin’s most typical features connected to the body care and bathing areas: the shower platform, incorporated in the floor, and the sculpted washbasins and bathtubs. The reassuring naturalness of the stone can therefore also be seen in these areas of the house, in large slabs, placed with ordered regularity, in order to give impact to the constituent elements, replacing the more classical and conventional ceramic shower platform. The mortar joints appear at intervals and become narrow crevices for collecting water, metaphorically restoring it to the earth from which it had been drawn. Rounded, with gentle curves, not recumbent but resting on the ground in the ample space, one of the architect’s first entirely stone tubs is a prominent feature, obtained by extracting the material from the quarry in a whole block. In terms of luminosity and natural diffusion, the Burgundy Beauval stone perfectly matches the sun’s rays entering into the surroundings.
The association between Armani and Silvestrin began in 1999. It has continued and has been consolidated over the years in the creation of more than twenty showrooms located all over the world. For the same group, headed by the fashion designer, the Claudio Silvestrin Architects’ studio, with offices in Milan and London, is now working on the Aquapura resort in Brazil. The Armani retail outlets stand out as an irreplaceable experience in the design journey of Silvestrin’s design career, offering him the opportunity, among the most continuous and important, to bring his artistic approach to a synthesis, together with the furnishing of the interiors, combined with the rigour and austerity of his approach, both conceptual and formal. The material’s naturalness is highlighted here by placing finishings in dark wood side by side with French limestone cladding, taking form in convincing combinations and colour codes in all the shops designed. The symbolic and purifying element of water is added to each of these interior settings, placed next to the entrances. Given the care taken over the attribution of the names with which he baptises his constructions, the name chosen for the project underway in Brazil cannot be ignored. The dominant material in all the constructions is the Saint-Maximin stone, a limestone lithotype excavated from a location in northern France, on the banks of the River Oise. Taking the major work in London in 2003 as an emblematic example, the designer made a slightly different choice between the solution of stone preferred for the walls and that, respectively, for the flooring: the Franche Fine of Saint-Maximin is applied vertically (with thicknesses of 3 cm, in variable sizes, with pieces between 30 and 40 cm on the smaller side, and different lengths of between 40 and 90 cm on the larger side), while on the horizontal plane, on the other hand, the Liais of Saint-Maximin is used (with thicknesses of between 2 and 3 cm, and characteristic dimensions of the squared slabs of 40 x 40 and 60 x 60 cm). The approximately 1000m2 surface area of the sales areas are traditionally set on mortar. For the walls, on the other hand, the designer offers us the opportunity to admire the results of an extensive dry-stone application on metal scaffolding. Notwithstanding the fact that the simple layout of uprights and transversals does not usually allow for exceptions in the execution of cladding with formal, bi-dimensional outcomes, the London setting succeeds in disproving this rule and in moulding a planimetric curvilinear course in 3D. The vertical application of rectangular ashlars is characterised by a typical longitudinal design. The paths are irregular in height, resulting in staggered overlaps. The slabs are saw cut and poli-
Barker Mill Apartment, 1993 The Barker Mill apartment takes us to London. It is on the South Bank of the Thames, in a famous cement and glass building designed by Sir Norman Foster. Pietra serena makes its appearance on the scene in the role of the physical, and in this case visible, horizon, considering the vast, full-length windows leading the ground surface to extend to the very edge that can be seen from inside the building. The homogeneity with which the grey colour of this typically Italian stone - made famous in the world by Filippo Brunelleschi’s geometric works - is seen distributed over every square inch of the paving slab, making it the preferred choice on this occasion over other stone materials with more gaudy characteristics. The idea of more or less total uniformity in the colour scheme, ensured by the pietra serena, carries through, in the direction of continuity, the transparencies and industrial character of Foster’s work. A palette is produced with a tonal range that varies from crystals, sometimes opalescent, sometimes transparent, to the white of the thickest walls, and to the varying grey tones of the cements, the piping and even the surface of the ground. Once again, the main bathroom furnishings are created as part of the design with the same material as the paved floors; the remaining furnishings, also in natural materials, this time exploit the possibilities of wood. Museum of Contemporary Art, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, 2002
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shed, while the colour is clear and warm. The use of this stone is recorded in France from the Middle Ages onwards. Consequently, this stone is associated with values of permanence and historical authenticity, so much so that it is the most commonly used stone in the numerous restoration works in the French capital. It surfaces can be restored through soft strokes, resulting in shades of colour and exterior design. This allows this specific material to be used strategically to mediate between the often profound differences between the interior of the retail outlet and its surroundings, both in terms of the immediate context of the building within which the retail outlet is housed (with the exception of a couple of examples, the constructions are always in existing buildings), and with reference to the city, frequently framed by wide, glazed windows. We would do better to speak of many different cities rather than a single one, given the number and international nature of the Armani locations. In each world city, Silvestrin seems to have delivered a scenography that evolves entirely from the inside out, in which the clothes are works of art and the mannequins appear to be soldiers at their stations, within areas made entirely from stone, recalling the silent atmosphere of medieval fortresses.
Donnelly gallery - residence, 2002 Lecce stone is also the raw material of the paved floors of the Donnelly gallery and private residence in Ireland, directly facing the ocean. In a construction of graphical and geometrical components that are important to the general economy of the design, the basic horizontal surface is stone, and it is brown in colour. This representation of the earth in stone supports the art and the unconcealed instruments for the finishing.
Mueum of contemporary art Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, 2002 Many of Claudio Silvestrin’s design and architectural projects use Lecce stone as the primary material. In addition to the Taglio Bowl diner, the interiors of a very central Venetian apartment and the floors of the Donnelly residence in Ireland, the important construction commissioned in Turin by the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo for spaces to be dedicated to contemporary art is endowed with an exterior wall entirely designed in this stone. That this is cladding and not isodoma masonry is stated without concealment by the design of the placement, regular, precise, all resting on the superimposition without any overlap of the rec-
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