Grafton Architects_Bocconi University project

POLITECNICO DI MILANO SCHOOL OF CIVIL ARCHITECTURE AA 2014/2015 HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

MILAN`S CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

BOCCONI UNIVERSITY_GRAFTON ARCHITECTS

CONTENT INTRODUCTION

.............................4

THE ARCHITECTURE

.............................6

WORLD BUILDING OF THE YEAR

Analysis

.............................6

A Piece of City

...........................12

A Window to Milan

...........................13

Social Lebensraum

...........................14

Undercroft

...........................14

Moving Skyward

...........................15

Aula

...........................16 ...........................18

INTRODUCTION

Striking forms, suspended spaces, natural lighting, materials drawn from the local tradition and adapted to a contemporary style.

Università Bocconi’s new building, located at the corner of viale Bligny and via Roentgen, is the fruit of a project by Dublin-based Grafton Architects, and in particular is the work of Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell.

Grafton won the international competition launched by the Milanese university in 2001 for the design and construction of a building with offices for the entire Faculty plus a large new auditorium, the Aula Magna.

From an architectural point of view, the design hinges on two basic ideas: floating volumes and diffuse natural lighting. The floors of the Grafton building do not rest on pillars, but are hung by steel cables from large roof beams – a structural principle similar to those used for bridges.

The effect is a succession of open spaces, stairs and concrete elements that seem suspended in the air. The visual impact is further lightened by the generous presence of wide glass panels and openings that convey natural light down to the basement. Internal courtyards, hanging gardens and terraces on various levels are full of light, thanks to the absence of pillars, and even the underground levels enjoy natural near daylight.

THE ARCHITECTURE

Analysis

UnderGround floor level Level -5.28m with access to the Aula Magna from the large foyer and to the conference rooms below via an external stairway.

Ground floor level The paving pattern confers with the city and leads to a “piazza� inside the building.

The large stairway with two flights connects to the underground level.

Section Section of the Aula Magna showing internal facing and connection between ground floor open public space and the internal underground public space that is open to the ground floor by a wall facade element.

The three chimney elements (two shown in brown) connect the aula to the light-wells in-between the above lying office volumes.

Image a

From the very beginning, the aim was to make the structure communicate a defiance of gravity. From the underground garage level, reinforced-concrete supports that are anchored to the ground uphold the weight of the wall-beams.

From the Via Roentgen two volumes emerge: the aula Magna suspended above street level; and the offices embedded in the earth.

Image a: Exploded axonometric view showing the construction elements Image b: Perpective interior view

Image b

A piece of city

We saw this brief as an opportunity to make a space at the scale of the city.

To this end we have built at the scale of the site,80m x160m. Inside, the building is thought of as a large market hall or place of exchange. The hall acts as a filter between the city and the university.

A window to Milan The northern edge of the site fronts onto the artery of Viale Bligny, with the clatter of trams, the rush of busses, general traffic, people passing. It addresses the throbbing urban life of Milan, weaves into the mesh of the city.

This frontage becomes the architectural opportunity to have a ‘window’ to Milan, a memorable image to confirm the important cultural contribution that the Bocconi University plays in the life of this city.

For this reason, the public space of the aula magna occupies this frontage, asserting a symbolic presence and a register of the prestigious status of the University.

Social Lebensraum The building is set back from the Viale Bligny & Via Roentgen edges to make a public space 18m x 90m inspired by the space forward of Hospital Maggiore.

This new deep ‘finger’ of space reaches out to the city and beckons the visitor into the heart of the interior. This public space continues into the building, bringing with it it’s stone surface, the floor of the city.

Undercroft

The underground accommodation is treated as an erupting landscape which offers support to the inhabited light filters above.

Spatially this underground world is solid, dense and carved. We tried to establish a continuity between the ‘landscape’ of the city and the ‘made landscape’ of this undercroft.

Moving Skyward

In order to make this grand place of exchange they thought about the research offices as beams of space, suspended to form a grand canopy which filters light to all levels. The offices form an inhabited roofscape.

This floating canopy allows the space of the city to overlap with the life of the university. Allows internal and external public spaces to merge.

The beehive world of the research is physically separate but always visually connected to the life of the lower levels.

The external wall to the sunken Aula Magna reaches the full height of the building with the upper level offices inhabiting it’s roofscape /attic.

The full bulk and scale of this great room ‘the embedded boulder’ sits directly on the street edge and is the anchor for the totality of the building.

Aula

World Building of the Year (WAFA 2008)

The faculty building at Luigi Bocconi University, Milan has become the first World Building of the Year at the inaugural World Architecture Festival Awards (World Architecture Festival Awards) 2008 in Barcelona (ES).

The judges praised the architects who, though not from Milan, succeeded in distilling the essence of the city into a confident, contemporary form, especially the “magical subterranean realm”.

“The winning building has a heavy relationship with the landscape of Milan and has the capacity to make a profound difference to the lives of its users. Grafton Architects have opened up the past of the city with a 21st century attitude.”

Judge Cecil Balmond from ARUP, admired “the 3D design which took architecture, construction and design, using it to create an urban weave. Its effortless structural solution suspends offices over a subterranean concourse.”

We were trying to make the University a miniature city where public realm connects with the rest of the city and the campus provides a window to Milan.

Being in the city for 6 years we have grown to love this project, which has changed our lives. A wonderful client, place and ambition all contribute to good architecture, and we had all three.”

REFERENCES: Schubert M. Serrazanetti F. “Grafton architects”; Milano, Moleskine, 2014 Vandini E. “4x4: sixteen works of contemporary architecture”; Pescara, Sala, 2011 http://www.graftonarchitects.ie http://www.unibocconi.eu/wps/allegatiCTP/brochure_ GRAFTON(21x21)4_2.pdf http://www.dezeen.com/2008/10/27/universita-luigi-bocconi-by-grafton-architects/

WHO WAS IN? SARA TIDU SRNA TULIĆ GIULIA BERNI GAIA MASERA DILARA DAGLI LORENZA SARTORI GABRIELE BORELLA ALESSANDRA PODIO

MILANO 27/03/2015