The Vision drawing shows the green system defined as “The Green comet” which integrate the Conero park into the city, visually connecting eastern cliff and western waterfront. The project regenerates fragmentary spaces and historic fabrics through parks and urban directories. Below are shown the different systems that inspired the drawing of the Territorial Vision.
In 2009, the city of Ancona adopted a crucial program document for the new Urban Plan. The document identifies priority guiding projects capable of synthesizing the main directions of development. Prominent among these is “The GREEN COMET from the Conero to the historic city,” which promotes the integration of the linear environmental system, originating from the Conero promontory, into the historic city, reinterpreting, on an urban scale, the relationship between the “two seas” that has historically defined the “modern” Port-Passetto axis, representing a key resource for the regeneration of the existing spaces and fabrics of the city of Ancona. This project overturns the urban image, creating visual connections between the eastern cliff and the western sea-front, crossing the city along the ridge and valley floor routes. From the Conero towards the city, there is a transition from compact urban fabrics to agrarian landscapes and spectacular cliff overlooks.The system of ridges and impluviums,(Shown in the image) on which the tails of the “comet” lie, draws a set of urban and park routes that creep through the city to the “waterfront of excellence,” creating virtuous relationships for urban redevelopment. The “comet” represents a fundamental resource for enhancing and networking fragmented spaces, regenerating existing fabrics rich in historical stratifications and city memories. Valle Miano, place where my thesis project lies, it’s part of one of the main axes generated by the impluvium of the city.
Impluvium of Valle Miano
The project proposes an adaptive infrastructure as a new interface between the city and open land, uniting neighborhoods separated by the railroad, such as Le Grazie and Monte Marino. This “edge” is not a dividing line, but a space of interrelation, promoting spatial and functional continuity. The infrastructure reconnects urban areas and establishes a new relationship between city and countryside, adapting to local specificities. The design idea comes from the observation of the duality of the place: on the one hand, the regulatory grids of buildings; on the other, the complex topography of layers, soils and margins. The grids, introduced in the 1950s to organize spaces, generated a chaotic urban mosaic. The project reinterprets these grids in relation to the existing topography, transforming the “void” into a regenerative element. This void, inspired by the layering of the Vallemiano landscape, reorders and enhances the environment, reversing the traditional perspective and placing the void at the center of the redevelopment process. These analyses led to the design of the new master plan for the Valle Miano district shown on the next page.
Regulating grid system
Valle Miano buildings Drawing of
Valle Miano as a Zip:
The Infrastructure as a zip heals the edges of the city divided by the railway
The project is an adaptive infrastructure so the infrastructure adapts and transforms according to the characteristics of the territory, the morphological elements and the buildings with which it is related. Three distinct types of territory have been identified in the Vallemiano district and surrounding areas. For each of them, the infrastructure based on the ‘void’ concept will adopt a specific approach, calibrated to the peculiarities of each context.
A- INTERSTITIAL TERRITORY
Activates human-scale regeneration by connecting inner courtyards and nonplaces, transforming disused areas into neighborhood spaces that foster urban renewal through flexible and spontaneous development approaches.
B
- URBAN TERRITORY
At the project’s core, the area reconnects urban fabric, overcoming railway barriers. Enhances spatial quality, ensures safety, and promotes urban regeneration through slow mobility and environmental infrastructure.
C- NATURAL TERRITORWY
The green infrastructure creates a sustainable, dynamic park, enhancing spatial experiences through fluid landscapes, tree-lined transparencies, and interconnected paths that harmonize voids, solids, woodlands, and soil into a cohesive whole.
The Program of the new multi-purpose complex was born with the aim of creating an integrated space for sports and culture, improving the community’s access to recreational, educational and cultural activities. The dimensions of the complex derive from a study of the land use plan and land use indices, ensuring a coherent integration into the urban fabric. Listed below are the dimensions and positions in the various levels of the functions in the project.
sport stazione cultura Accessopiscina
LEVEL +7.50 m - INHABITED BRIDGE LEVEL +0.00 m - THEATRE ENTRANCE AND TRAIN STATION
The inhabited bridge, an element of reconnection, addresses design complexities by uniting separate areas and transforming load-bearing structures and walkways into multifunctional spaces for commercial, recreational and cultural activities. Inspired by the Ponte Vecchio, it reinterprets its distribution of functions and organisation in sections, offering a historical model adapted to the contemporary needs of a bridge as a living space.
FOOT TRAFFIC - FUNCTIONS
OBSTACOLE
The volume of the inhabited bridge features a terrace on the upper floor that serves as an elevated public square, with panoramic views of the sea and the countryside. This square accommodates areas for social and recreational activities, with direct connections to the lower levels of the building. Below the square is the walking level, designed to integrate harmoniously with the surrounding
context, elegantly resolving a 7.5 metre difference in height between the hillside districts of Le Grazie and Montemarino. The lower part of the bridge is articulated along a linear gallery that houses a series of functional spaces related to refreshment.
TERRACE (Corridoio Vasariano)
Connection system
Ponte Vecchio
Aerial view of the inhabited bridge
View from Le Grazie neighboor
The interior wall of the pool textured concrete panels made by CNC-milled mold panels. These by the masks of the Càlamo Fountain by architect Tibaldi, a symbol of link between Ancona and water. recalls the stratification of Marna rock, with figures sculpted subtraction of the material, evoking erosion of the Monte Conero This wall wants to maintain relationship with the collective of water of the inhabitants
incorporates by casting on These are inspired Fountain (1560) the historical water. The texture the Conero sculpted through evoking the natural rock walls. maintain a strong imagination of Ancona,
Calamo Fountain
CNC Mold Monte Conero
The design of the interior wall of the swimming pool combines various techniques. It consists of a series of textured concrete panels made by casting inside moulds made by CNC milling. To simulate the installation process on site, I made a 1:20 scale physical model (12x12 cm) of one of these concrete panels.
The process began with the image of a mask depicting a Satyr from the Fontana del Calamo, which I processed by creating a script on Grasshopper in Rhinoceros. This script provided the texture inspired by the stratification of the marl rock of Monte Conero, with the figure emerging through a subtraction of the material, evoking the natural erosion effect of the rock walls. Using the Image Sampler, I combined the image of the mask with the textured effect of the rock wall, inverting the image to obtain the negative and generate the mould for the concrete casting.
Once the 3D model was defined, I created the mould using a PLA 3D printer. On construction site, the panel moulds would be made of expanded polystyrene and CNC milled, but I opted for 3D printing, which was better suited to the tools available and the small scale of the model. Moreover, for such a small size, 3D printing ensured greater details.
After printing the mould, I proceeded to pour the concrete using a formwork. The final result, highlights the panel’s ability to transform with the changing light, making the wall a living element that is perfectly integrated into its surroundings.
9:00 AM 12:00 AM
Effect of direct sunlight at different times of day:
3:00 PM 6:00 PM
Satyr mask
Negative image
Monte Conero rock wall
Passetto bay
To understand the volumetric and compositional complexity of the project, the use of study models was fundamental. These models allows me to better analyse the connections between the different elevations that the building bridges, both in the urban context and within the designed spaces. Below is shown the last study model on a scale of 1:500. The model can be broken down level by level to understand the relationships between the various floors of the building. It was madeusing materials like cardboard, acetate both cutted cutted by hand and expanded polystyrene cutted with the styrofoam machine.
Last study model_scale 1:500
The thesis model is made with a combination of prints on 100gr paper glued on the cardboard cutted by hand and previously painted in white, acetate, 3D PLA printing and expanded polystyrene cutted with the styrofoam machine. The 1:1000 scale model offers a clear view of the functioning of the adaptive infrastructure resulting from the design of the “active” void in relation to the urban context and its regulatory grid. The model becomes a physical transposition of the masterplan design (the goal was to make the top view of the model as close as possible to the drawing) showing the the relationship between solids and voids.
Thesis model_scale 1:1000
Competition: Villard 21: From
SOIL PROJECT FOR THE OF THE EXISTING ONE
From Social Housing to SOCIAL HABITAT
Information
Year: 2020
Location: Taranto
Authors: Roberto Monticelli, Matteo Almonti,Giorgio Pio Morganella, Cristian Orsino, Elena Perrone, Pasquale William Sforza
Nowdays, as in the past, it is not possible to talk about Taranto without referring to the 'ex ILVA' and how much it has conditioned over the years the development of the city and the large territoy that hosts it. The vicissitudes of Europe's largest steelworks constitute an emergency issue not only for the city but also for the inhabitants. The debate opened in the 21st edition of the Villard, tries to shift the focus from the quality of the buildings to the quality of living. The three selected areas for the project exploration, Salinella, Tamburi and Paolo VI, are symptomatic of these needs and express them fully in their individual fragilities, which account for a widespread overall dimension.
SALINELLA DISTRICT, THE RESOURCES
Information
Year: 2020
OF WATER
Location: Taranto, Salinella
Authors: Roberto Monticelli, Pasquale William Sforza
The main theme of the Salinella District project is the regeneration of some stratifications present in the area and the securing of the entire site with respect to the high hydraulic risk. The reading of the urban materials present, in particular along the edges of the Salina, and of the consequent hydraulic vulnerability, have allowed to build an accurate intervention strategy that is declined in a sort of adaptive urban infrastructure, able to build a new interface between the city and the territory. The project imagines a new edge, along the perimeter of the Salina, which aims to create a space of open dialogue between multiple realities. https://www.paesaggicostieri.org/seminario-villard-21 https://www.paesaggicostieri.org/seminario-villard-21 http://www.architettura.unich.it/seminario-internazionale-villard-21-taranto-from-social-housing-to-social-habitat-vince-il-dipartimento-di-architettura-di-pescara/
The urban infrastructure is entrusted with the task of defining a closer relationship between city and countryside and, at the same time, to contain the expansion of the built environment and work on the existing, facilitating the crossing of the landscape to the consolidated urban fabric. The infrastructure manifests itself in the form of a park: as an urban device that intercepts the quality of spaces, both the residual ones still waiting for a definition, and those between the layers present in the area.
1_ Park
4_Temporary
5_School
6_Cycle-pedestrian
The soil is entrusted with the task of explicating the re-founding action of the place, securing it against the rising waters of the Salina.
The result is prefigured as an inner karst landscape, accessible from the city and from the new flows generated by the park; the construction of a new relationship between artifice and nature; a hypertext of relationships mediated by the elements of nature that take possession of this space and its cavities. It is precisely the porous spaces from which the new social habitat takes shape.
View
Section C-C’
Section
Section
UNIVERSITY CENTRE POLO PINDARO
Information
Year: 2019
Location: Pescara
Authors: Roberto Monticelli, Luca Antonio Lidonnici, Lorenzo Santone University course: Architectural composition 3
About the project
The area is located along the recently developed "via verde", an ecological infrastructure designed to connect the centralities established in that part of the city. The project is based on a main longitudinal axis that connects “via verde” to the university. Along the axis were placed the new structures for university departments, an auditorium, laboratories and a modern media library.
