Nikos Ktenàs, Simona de Giuli – Artistic Center MAT. An alternative project

PROJECT: Nikos Ktenàs, Simona de Giuli – Artistic Center MAT. An alternative project

LOCATION: Lugano. Switzerland

YEAR: 2018

ARCHITECT / FIRM: Nikos Ktenàs Simona de Giuli

BUYER: MAT. Artistic Centre

SURFACE: 3.000 sqm

PRICE: € 800.000

DESCRIPTION:
A square on the river... The objective of our proposal is to deliver the structure of the MAT to the city of Lugano: Until now, the school was exclusively linked to the artistic training of its students, you go only to attend courses, the new project on the contrary wants to open to all citizens and, taking the suggestion proposed by the new NQC master plan of a new square on the river, wants to create a space that can not only dialogue with the nature of the place, as suggested by the district plan, but that can also host various events not only related to artistic performances, but to all those that a square understood in the sense of the European city can evoke. The MAT has grown in recent years adapting to an existing condition that precisely because it does not have a defined function, has managed to meet the functional needs of the school. What is certainly missing is a unity of volumes since they were built at different times and with different languages and materials, thus generating a situation of disorder. For this reason it is necessary to return a more appropriate staircase to a public institution that can make it recognizable even beyond the river: a new structure in wire mesh, a sort of porch, around two limits of the new square, hiding the windows of the classrooms, the network will filter the light inside the spaces, but at the same time will preserve the view from the outside, returning only a play of shadows.

PREVALENT CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The functional program remains predominantly the original one, with a limited new program.

DESCRIPTION:
550 students 40 teachers 4 Educational sections - Theatre, Dance, Music and Musical Age of pupils: 3 to 70 years old 44 Educational proposals 4 Rooms for Theatre and Dance Courses 4 Rooms for singing and music courses A Local Blues& Jazz Currently some spaces on the ground floor are occupied by warehouses, we propose to open them to a public function: a new cultural cafe that can serve both the students of the school, even in the perspective that it may become an academy, and those who after a walk along the river, seeking some 'refreshment. On the hottest days the café can open on the square, offering its concerts to the city. The portico separating the coffee from the square can be closed at certain times, thus allowing the external space of the coffee to be transformed into a stage for theatrical performances, where the new square will become the cavea of a small open-air theatre. The rehearsal rooms Currently the warehouses to the north of the structure are not used, if not as a warehouse, the idea and to restructure them to create rehearsal rooms, spaces much requested by various artistic companies and completely absent in the territory of Ticino.

PREVALENT CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: Funding mostly made by the original owner, for a minor part by another investor.

DESCRIPTION:
MAT

- SURFACE present REDUCTION,

BALANCE BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND REPLACEMENT: The overall dimensions are about half compared to the pre- existing surface.

- VOLUME present NO VARIATION,

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

DESCRIPTION:
According to the master plan of the Nuovo Quartiere Cornaredo (NQC), the current headquarters of the MAT Artistic Centre in Lugano will soon be demolished to make way for the creation of a river park, a square on the river and a cycle path. In this way, there is a risk that the artistic, educational and aggregative activity of the MAT will be definitively stopped, a reality that today counts 560 students and employs 40 professional teachers, many of them from Ticino or from the Canton of Ticino, and last but not least, a structure that has not asked for any kind of financial support to the city or the canton for a couple of years.

PREVALENT CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: Pre-existing spaces are prevalent with respect to new spaces.

DESCRIPTION:
After 10 years of activity in the area, the MAT (which in 2016 became a SAGL) currently has 560 students and gives work to 40 teachers (all professionals), making it the largest artistic training centre in Ticino and one of the largest in the world. in Switzerland. Since 2008, around 2,500 students (aged 3 to 70) have enrolled in the MAT. The MAT has thus also become an important meeting place and a physical place where you can get to know each other, exchange opinions and to collaborate artistically.

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

DESCRIPTION:
The Mappale 908 of Pregassona-Lugano, where the structure of the MAT is located, is privately owned - which a few months ago opposed the expropriation of land proposed by the Canton - and the part rented to the MAT is currently about 1500 m2, in addition to a large parking area. Our project is aimed at the Department of Territory of the Canton of Ticino and the Municipality of Lugano, offering an alternative solution that manages to coexist as proposed by the NQC Agency and the MAT; for the great importance that the MAT has for the city of Lugano and for the entire canton of Ticino, has led the proposal where the square on the river becomes the heart of the new project. At present, the new urban development plan gives general indications on the use of our area, while the new project of the MAT would not make particular changes to the plan drawn up, but rather tries to give an aggregative function to a new space of the city, inserting itself in the context of other proposals that is trying to build Lugano. Last but not least, the project will paradoxically also bring an economic advantage to the city. In these months we have obviously started to look for an alternative solution, but it is really difficult to find a possible location large enough to accommodate all our students and all our courses and especially located in an area easily accessible by public transport.

BALANCE BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND REPLACEMENT: The materials chosen for the new intervention balance similarities and differences with the existing ones.

DESCRIPTION:
Solar energy" project In order to reduce heat loss from the interior, it was decided to coat the entire school building with an external coat, while photovoltaic panels will further increase energy savings. In addition to a motivated functional choice, the external cladding intends to restore greater decorum to the system, correcting everything that is not confirmed by the current use.

PREVALENT REPLACEMENT / DISCONTINUITY: The new intervention favors a relationship of discontinuity with the existing structures.

DESCRIPTION:
According to the master plan of the Nuovo Quartiere Cornaredo (NQC), the current headquarters of the MAT Artistic Centre in Lugano will soon be demolished to make way for the creation of a river park, a square on the river and a cycle path. In this way, there is a risk that the artistic, educational and aggregative activity of the MAT will be definitively stopped, a reality that today counts 560 students and employs 40 professional teachers, many of them from Ticino or from the Canton of Ticino, and last but not least, a structure that has not asked for any kind of financial support to the city or the canton for a couple of years. The Mappale 908 of Pregassona-Lugano, where the structure of the MAT is located, is owned by the Giorgetti brothers - who a few years ago opposed the expropriation of the land proposed by the canton - and the part leased to the MAT is currently of about 1500 m2, plus a large parking area. Our project is aimed at the Department of Territory of the Canton of Ticino and the Municipality of Lugano, offering a alternative solution that manages to bring together what is proposed by the NQC Agency and the MAT; we ask the authorities to to recognize the great importance that the MAT has for the city of Lugano and for the entire canton (we have students who from Airolo to follow our courses) and to consider our proposal where the square on the river becomes the heart of the new project of the Ktenàs De Giuli Architecture Studio. At the moment, the new master plan gives general indications on the use of our area, while the new project of the MAT would not make particular changes to the plan drawn up, but rather seeks to give an aggregated function to a new space in the city, entering into the context of other proposals that Lugano is trying to build. Not from last the project paradoxically will also bring an economic advantage to the city. In these months we have obviously started to look for an alternative solution, but it is really difficult to find a solution. possible location large enough to accommodate all our students and all our courses and above all located in a area easily accessible by public transport for students. Over the years we have completely renovated the building, investing more than 180,000 CHF of private money and creating a center that every outside artist who comes to the MAT as a guest envies us. Everything has been secured as required by the municipality and the canton. We have also delivered these days the fire test certificate, the last document that was missing to ascertain the total safety of the our spaces. Why demolish it when it could become the seat of a future art academy in Lugano?