Arts and Cultural Center in Moscow, Renzo Piano

 

"I started my architect career building a museum as if it were a factory, Centre George Pompidou in Paris, and today I am here in Moscow facing an abandoned factory, in order to produce cultural energy". These are the words Renzo Piano used to introduce his new project in the Red October district of the Russian Capital. The V-A-C Foundation by Leonid Mikhelson has commissioned RPBW to turn the GES2 power station - built in the early 1900s - into a new arts and cultural center.

The "Central Nave" of the 150-meter-long industrial structure will be provided of directional light, which will illuminate the 23-meter-high exhibition area; the welcoming area - with a sculptural garden, birch trees and an outdoor/indoor piazza - and the educational area will complete the site. A pier-style walkway will also connect the power plant to the edge of the Moskva River.






The project even contains a sustainable aspect: the building's tall distinctive chimney, solar cells and geothermal sources will be used for natural ventilation and low energy consumption. 

Piano promises the city mayor Sergeij Sobianin to take light to one of the darkest areas of Moscow thanks to a site which used to produce light itself.

The works are supposed to be finished within the beginning of 2019.

A.G.

Double House, MVRDV

Located in Utrecht, Netherlands, Double House by MVRDV proves how an apparently simple task can be resolved in a nontrivial way.

The Architects,  Bjarne Mastenbroek and Winy Maas, were charged by two families to separate one single site in a beautiful park and to give the same privileges to both of them: the view of the park, the garden and the roof.

Therefore the choice of the designers was to adopt a "push and pull" pattern (which refers to Le Corbusier's duplex) wherewith they apparently responded to the need of the two families to have their own lives. Instead they deny that by using huge glass windows for the views and by placing the heart of the apartments (the two living rooms with one staircase each) in the core of the whole building. 

A.G.

Casa Malaparte, A. Libera

They say Cuzio Malaparte got inspired from Chiesa dell’Assunta in Lipari - where he was exiled during the Fascist Regime - for the projectation of his own house in Capri: Casa Malaparte (1937).

 As the writer used to define it "A House like Me", the design belongs to himself, while the Architect - Adalberto Libera - was used only to obtain the tecnichal permissions.

 Casa Malaparte is considered one of the Italian Modern Architecture's masterpieces because it represents the union between reationalist modernity and natural environment.

 The impervious location, the pompeian red colour, the reverse pyramidal stairs leading to the roof patio and the Mediterranean vegetation - integral part of the project - are the main features of this edifice, which has been picked out as the setting of many movies and advs.

A.G.

5 Tips to Be a Successful Architecture Student

Welcome to ARCHIstudent and to my first post ever! I am a 20 years old architecture student in Italy and I've created this blog to share ideas, opinions and information with the future architects from all the countries.

As many of you must have just started uni, I'd like to give you some tips I wish I knew back when I started.

1. Buy a Blank Notebook and Sketch
   Don't draw because teachers tell you to, draw because it's your future! Even if the main work will be done with softwares, the first ideas will be always expressed by sketches and the better you are the easier it will be to turn them into architectural masterpieces.
2. Take advantage of Social Networks
   I think one of the best tools our generation has got is internet! We don't spend a day without checking our social networks accounts, so why don't you use them to keep updated about the architecture world? Follow the trends and get inspiration for your projects!
3. Download and Play
   Your laptop will probably become your new best friend, so start now and get familiar with the two basic softwares every architecture student starts with: AutoCAD and SketchUp!
   You can download their free versions in the links below:
   - AutoCAD for students
   - Sketchup 2015
4. Widen your Knowledge
   You'll probably start studying the buildings and the projects from the past but your designs will have to be contemporary! So discover the most influential architects of the moment and make your own cultural background through the most recommended websites, magazines and books.
5. Be Creative
   Take advantage of all the spare time you have and think about your assignments! Work hard on your designs and be creative, cause all the ideas which come to your mind probably already exist! So open your eyes, look at the world in a new way and get inspiration from it!

Thank you for reading, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll try to help you!

A.G.