The School of Art of Construction is meant to be built in the outskirts of Como, a fragmented urban fabric of industrial and post-industrial buildings. The project doesn’t want to escape the ugliness of this environment but rather to establish a direct dialogue with it: the two squares - the Construction Building and the Classroom Building - fragment the plot; the outside area of the school is a leftover of the cut, without hiding form the surrounding; The two buildings, very different one from each other, are just functional tools made for working. The buildings are the places where to study and an example of construction at once: the white prefabricated concrete is solid and straight forward, but also thin and light; The Classroom Building has a thin bone structure and is sustained by cross-shape columns, while the glass facade is protected by movable metal sheds; The Construction Building is a cold container where one could literally learn how to build. The walls and the roof of the building are made of prefabricated concrete sheds, which are at the same time the main structure and the light receptacle, as their direction allows to have specific kind of light during the different moments of the day. The buildings are a simple and direct expression of the art of building.
Competition: 2011 / Status: 2nd prize / Competition promoter: ANCE - Associazione Nazionale Costruttori Edili Como / In collaboration with: Giacomo Ortalli, Anna Stoppani, Gaelle Verrier / Civil engineering: Ing. Gaffuri, Ing. Claudio Corti / Environemental engeneering: Luca Gattoni (CH) / Acoustic engeneering; Dario Paini (IT)
School of Construction
