Elasticospa (Stefano Pujatti) – Atelier Fleuriste

PROJECT: Elasticospa (Stefano Pujatti) – Atelier Fleuriste

LOCATION: Chieri (TO), Italy, via Andezeno 52

YEAR: 2007

ARCHITECT / FIRM: ELASTICOSPA – Stefano Pujatti Architetti

BUYER: Idea Fiori of Marco Segantin

SURFACE: 580 sqm

PRICE: € 1.000.000

DESCRIPTION:
The project involves the total re-development of a nineenth-century house forming part of an unbroken street front. The aim to give clear and confident expression to the presence of an unusual facility within an urban context that is, at the moment, rather a jumble of surviving rural building and more recent development. The project envisages the creation of exhibition spaces, shops, housing and other areas of flexible use that can be adapted to the varying needs of the clients, that it’s envisaged as a large showcase/piazza giving onto Via Andezeno. The interior is shown through the window wall that will be cooled by a thin veil of water that will transform the entire front of the building into one monumental fountain. Thus the street becomes a sort of piazza, a public space that is a point of reference for the entire urban context.

TOTAL CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The functional program remains the original one.

DESCRIPTION:
Originally a farm house (cascina) used for living and in part for animals, after having been abbandoned for years, it has restructured and readapted for the new function which is that of a florist and furniture shop.

TOTAL CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The investor is the property owner.

DESCRIPTION:
The building was disused for years and has been bought by an flower artist for private/commercial uses.

- SURFACE present EXTENSION,

PREVALENT CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The overall dimensions increase moderately with respect to the pre-existing surface.

- VOLUME present NO VARIATION,

TOTAL CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The overall dimensions are equal to the pre-existing volume.

DESCRIPTION:
The reconstructed part of the atelier was made using a structure of galvanized steel profiles that reproduces the original built section. The redevelopment of the street-front structure envisages the maintenance of all the various characteristic features of the central portion (vaulted roofing, window/door frames, plasterwork and decoration). To the sides, the outline of the original building will be changed by a floor-to-roof window looking towards the street and a shimmering surface of copper installed on the countryard side of the structure. The interior is open and hinges around a central space that reaches all the way to the roof. Crossed by walkways, that space is intended to contain largescale light installations.

BALANCE BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND REPLACEMENT: The new spaces are in balance with respect to the pre- existing spaces.

DESCRIPTION:
The intervention respects the existing silhouette, partially preserving its character and structures, while the new materials, even if in contrast on the whole, balance the intervention.

BALANCE BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND REPLACEMENT: The supporting structure is composed in a balanced way by pre-existing structures and new structures.

DESCRIPTION:
Parts of the existing building has been replaced with concrete and steel stuctures which gave the opportunity to create a transparent facade on via Andezzeno allowing at the same time bigger spans and big open spaces where the old masonry structure needed a much more fractioned use of the volume. 


PREVALENT REPLACEMENT / DISCONTINUITY: The materials chosen for the new intervention show more differences than similarities compared to the pre-existing.

DESCRIPTION:
The project uses materials that very clearly show the technological differences between the old and the new pieces. Everything new speaks of transparency an lightness while le old is more opaque and havilly connected to the ground.

BALANCE BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND REPLACEMENT: The new intervention balances elements of continuity and discontinuity with respect to existing structures.

DESCRIPTION:
There is a continuity of the form, the replaced parts formally continue the pitch roof of those parts that were kept untouched. The very little interventions on what was kept and the new technology of the replaced parts offer adiaalogue that some time is surprising and impredictable while in other moments it could seem obvious.