Parma #33 – Torino | Bottega Studio Architetti

November 8th, 2009 @ David K.

Parma #33, image courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

Parma #33, image courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

Italian architecture practice Bottega Studio Architetti & Giocosa Palitto Architetti recently have completed the Parma #33 project located in Torino, Italy. The facade in Via Parma 33, has been transformed to a “skin” Corten steel. There are 4 balconies protruded from the facade towards the street, serving as poetic elements with the words of “UNO ODO, DUE SENTO, TRE ASCOLTO” (ONE I HEAR, TWO I HEED, THREE I LISTEN), and finally “I GOT IT”. It aims to create a dialogue between architecture and art, engaging the people on the street and who lives within.

+ Project description courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

VOLUMI – VOLUMES

A project by BSA (Bottega Studio Architetti) Cerruti Ricciuti Valle & Giocosa Palitto Architetti

The idea springs forth from thoughts on the malaise generated by living places which have lost their capacity of being – or never even been – people-friendly.

Aim of the project is to equip architecture with a form of communication that uses other expressive, artistic languages, in addition to building style.

The result is this experiment, standing on the crossroad between architecture and private artwork: the objective is to take an active part in renovating urban areas skirting historical town centres.

Our intent is to add communicative capacity to architectural interventions which goes beyond the language of shapes. Being able to interact, to increase the degree of interaction between buildings and people walking in the street. Pausing to reflect on what they see. Some may agree, others will not, but in all cases it is an opportunity to attract and focus.

A building is no longer a container of people and things, dialoguing only with those who live within it, but instead belongs to the city, for more than one reason, because the dialogue is directed outwards.

Parma #33 is the first instalment of an articulated disseminated urban intervention project which will involve rethinking other low-value or even underprivileged places – or VOLUMES – giving life to a masterpiece building cycle.

Parma #33, image courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

parma #33 – TORINO
By Francesca Referza

For VOLUMI, a project by BSA – Bottega Studio Architetti + Giocosa Palitto Architetti, Torino.

Friday 25 September, 7 o’clock p.m. Unveiling of parma #33 – TORINO, the first intervention in the VOLUMI project, standing on the crossroad between art and architecture, created by BSA and Francesca Referza. For parma #33, Italian artist Vittorio Corsini was invited to team up with the architects of BSA and design a facade for the building located in Via Parma 33, Torino.

During my first contacts, Stefano Cerruti of BSA explained the idea of creating a series of urban renovation projects with a strong communicative connotation in which a dialogue between architectural and artistic elements was to be established at the earliest stages of design.

explained Francesca Referza

The underlying idea of the VOLUMI project is to suggest a less monumental, more human vision of architecture, an alternative to the costly macro projects of great architectures working worldwide.

Our starting point was the awareness that architecture communicates… The urgency we felt was to create a direct contact between architecture and art.

explained Cerruti Ricciuti Valle

Parma #33, image courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

The facade of the building in Via Parma 33, designed by BSA + Giocosa Palitto Architetti, is entirely panelled with Corten. This material was chosen as the “skin” of the building because of its ductility and natural colours. Without interfering with the global view of the architectural design as a whole, Corsini stepped away from the wall, leaving his call for attention suspended in midair. Halfway between the inside and the outside, between private and public, between the rooms of the building and the street. In sequence, one after the other, Corsini’s words are printed in block capitals on the Corten skin across four balconies. The words are a three-step emotional approach, starting from physiological-auditory attention getters “UNO ODO, DUE SENTO, TRE ASCOLTO” (ONE I HEAR, TWO I HEED, THREE I LISTEN), and finally I GOT IT, confirming the positive outcome of the gradual progression in listening propensity.

My attempt was to create a work of art which is not legible in an instant, immediately as a whole, but rather to create a path… I focused on the balconies because these elements protrude from the facade outwards, towards the street. On these balconies, I place the accent on the steps of a process of awareness, a route, which also contains the sense of the relationship, of meeting others. This is why I focused on the act of listening, which implies a propensity, a willingness, the necessary conditions for constructing a relationship. Then it is all solved in an instant, like a poem: I GOT IT”.

explained Vittorio Corsini

The balcony parapet is 100 from the balcony floor… It is approximately 6 cm thick and made of two plates arranged at a reciprocal distance from one another to form a concealing internal structure. The two plates form a sort of box in which a neon light system which displays Vittorio Corsini’s words at night is arranged…

commented architect Cerruti on the Via Parma 33 project.

Parma #33, image courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

Parma #33, image courtesy of Bottega Studio Architetti

The facade of Via Parma 33 has a two-level interpretation: one during the day, a discreet, two-dimensional appearance in which only the surface of the balconies can be seen; the other at night, more evident because of the light which penetrates through the laser cut letters, three-dimensional and projected outwards, towards the street and passers-by.