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2023 PIOPPETO

—Projects

PIOPPETO

Bergamo (Italy), 2023

 

Our proposal for Piazza Industriosa Natura aims to be a virtuous example of collaboration between nature and production, while working on the specific spatial and environmental qualities of the poplar grove, and contributing a very small but significant piece to the decarbonization and reforestation goals of our territory.

 

Between the Kilometro Rosso wall and the Confindustria headquarters, on the roof of the underground auditorium, stands a hanging cultivation of poplar trees. The poplar grove consists of 38 potted trees with a maximum height of about 9 meters, arranged in a regular grid of 4.20 x 4.20 meters. Under the poplar grove, some of the pots are articulated into benches, platforms, and seats with different geometries, to provide spaces for informal rest and meeting, or to host collective events.

 

The tree used is of the Populus alba (white poplar) variety: its stem is slender and its silver-gray bark is similar to that of birch. The crown is broad and rounded. The leaves, deciduous, have a pale green upper page while the lower page is velvety and grayish. In autumn they are tinged with golden yellow. Poplar falls into the category of hardy and easy-to-manage trees. The necessary care is reduced to the bone, except for irrigation.

 

The poplar grove offers shade, shelter, rest and wonder. It is a large natural columned hall topped by a leafy roof, which anticipates the entrance to the building. The canopies of the poplars alleviate the summer heat and filter the sunlight offering visual comfort. The leaves of the Populus alba moved by the wind produce a characteristic rustle that mitigates the noise of planes and vehicles.

 

public square

preliminary proposal, final design, construction documents

client: Confindustria Bergamo

total surface: 970 sqm

ongoing

 

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Salottobuono

Corso Sempione, 33
20145 Milano, I
office@salottobuono.com
www.salottobuono.com

Salottobuono is an architectural office based in Milan, directed by Matteo Ghidoni.

 

The studio’s work ranges from urban design to architecture, from temporary installations to exhibition design. Salottobuono is also constantly engaged in research, publishing and teaching activities. Always active in the international arena, the studio is currently in charge of developing public space and landscape redevelopment projects on behalf of several Italian administrations. Salottobuono relies on the collaboration of a network of specialists for the development of all phases of the project in its structural, plant engineering, economic and site management aspects. It also collaborates with consultants on landscape and environmental sustainability issues.

 

Matteo Ghidoni obtained his Master Degree in architecture at IUAV Faculty of Architecture in Venice in 2002. He was a founding partner of the research agency Multiplicity from 2002 to 2006. His work with Multiplicity was exhibited at Kunstwerke in Berlin (2003), the Venice Biennale (2003), the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris (2003), the ZKM in Karlsruhe (2004) and the Beijing Biennial (2004).

 

Ghidoni founded the architectural office Salottobuono in 2007. Salottobuono has served as editor of the Instructions and Manuals section of Abitare magazine
(2007-10) and as creative director of Domus magazine (2011, 2012). The office has taken part in the Venice Biennale (2008, 2012, 2014), and designed the Italian Pavilion in 2010. Salottobuono published the Manual of Decolonization (2010) and Fundamental Acts (2016).

 

Matteo Ghidoni is currently Visiting Lecturer at the MIT Department of Architecture and Adjunct Professor at Politecnico in Milan. He taught design studios at the Faculty of Architecture in Genova, at IUAV Faculty of Architecture in Venice, the Royal Danish Academy of Arts in Copenhagen and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotà. He has given guest lectures at several schools and institutions including the Berlage Institute, Berkeley, TU Wien, Vlaams Architectuurinstituut in Antwerp, Columbia University and USoA Miami. He has been studio leader at the Venice Studio organized by the Melbourne School of Architecture and at the Porto Academy hosted at FAUP.

 

In 2014 he was invited by Rem Koolhaas, director of the Venice Biennale, to participate in the Monditalia section with the research project Ground Floor Crisis. Among the recent projects designed and built by Ghidoni there are the winning proposal for a temporary restaurant for the 25th Biennale Interieur in Kortrjik, Belgium (2016), the pavilion for the Mèxtropoli Festival in Mexico City (2017), the e-flux pavilion for the Milano ArchWeek (2018), the new Urban Center for the city of Milan (2019) and the new addition to the Venice Casino in Ca’ Noghera (2020). His project for the market square of Sant’Agostino (Ferrara), designed in collaboration with Enrico Dusi and completed in 2020, has been awarded the prestigious Gubbio Prize as the best national intervention on an area of historical interest.

 

Since 2010, Ghidoni has been co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of San Rocco, an independent international publication about architecture. The editors of San Rocco were received the Icon Award in 2012 as the best emerging architecture practice. In 2012 and 2013, the magazine was awarded two grants from the Graham Foundation.