A politically committed and militant project!

Today, the unsealed plot and green roof of the pavillon host an incredible diversity of plant, animal and funghi species. A unfiltered, 12 metre long pond, that is over 2 meters deep, connects the wild northern and southern parts of the garden. The roof is covered by another garden, which is slightly less wild, and more focused on food production. In winter, the house itself orients around a large fireplace, which‘s chimneys comically long shape responds to the legal exhaust distances in the dense urban environment. In summer, it opens to the pond and gardens.

The creation of a complex habitat, that enables a species rich environment to thrive, is the main purpose of the design.

Text provided by the architects.

Stones with Hooks — When the crowds fade away, we can still find traces of the summer in the riverbed. The riverbed has both shallow and deep sections; along the side adjacent to the road, the riverbed has been artificially raised and enclosed with pebbles to form “waterfront private spaces”. When we went down to the riverbank, we noticed that many of the pebbles around these boxes had iron hooks attached. It was easy to deduce that the hooks were installed by the villagers – so that the canopies could be firmly tied to the pebbles during the peak season.

The villagers did not make any rigid, permanent modifications to the river channel cross-section. Instead, they used the local, non-engineering method of moving pebbles to divide the riverbed into functional zones: a safe, shallow recreational area and a deeper, farther flood discharge area. The waterfront spaces, built flexibly with local materials, can be easily restored even after a flash flood – all it takes is piling up the stones again to revive the consumer scene. Movable, sustainable, and low-impact – this is truly a wonderful example of “traceless stream economy” and collective local construction.

Sunshade, Stream Play and River Crossing — There was no need for excessive “groundless” planning; the site itself is alive, and it had already outlined the task at hand: Xialang is beautiful, and it would be even more beautiful with the addition of a canopy for shade, a few steps for easy access to the water, and a line of stepping stones for crossing the river. The operator of the future café on the site had no high requirements for the building area – the space could be accommodated within the footprint of the existing public toilet. This left the remaining outdoor area as the focus of our concept.

First, let’s look at the canopy. Pebbles serve as the structural foundation for the canopies rented out by the villagers. For the “The Grand Canopy”, we decided to use the main structure of the toilet: four partition walls were built to enclose 8 structural columns, forming the higher foundation on one side of the canopy. On the side of the existing dam, four corresponding low piers were built to form the foundation on the other side. Cables were strung between these two foundations – one high, one low, one north, one south – to complete the structural construction of the canopy.

In the sweltering summer, the canopy is unfolded to welcome tourists; during typhoons or rainy days, it is retracted to ensure safety; in the off-seasons of autumn and winter, it is taken down to facilitate maintenance – and there is no need to apply for additional construction quotas. This flexible construction and operation logic takes from the site and gives back to the site. Next, let’s look at the ground landscape. After meeting the requirements of the river’s blue line setback and water conservancy elevation, we designed the ground projection area of the canopy as the starting point for accessing the stepping stones – an enlarged riverbank platform that acts like a “bridgehead”, accommodating crowds gathering and water-based activities.

Text provided by the architects.

The central element of the park, which characterizes it from a functional point of view, is the open-air amphitheatre which, as in the historic “green theatres” of Italian gardens, is characterized by a scenographic vegetable backdrop: an orchard of cherry trees punctuated by regular planting.

The central entrance to the park is characterized by a tree-lined square, equipped with seats shaded by vegetation arranged in regular rows; from the square you can admire and cross an area characterized by the sowing of a flowery lawn in yellow and pink tones, which becomes a temporary natural installation to visualize the future intervention.

The entire park is illuminated along the circular ring and along the two main internal travel axes with a system of high poles, to ensure usability even in the evening or in conjunction with specific events.

The entrances are located along Via della Costituzione, and include a central pedestrian entrance and two driveways at the ring route, functional to maintenance vehicles.

The paths inside the park ideally continue the agricultural plot of the context and are distinguished, on the basis of their size, between main and secondary ones. Rows of native species shade the paths, completing the design.

The furnishing elements have been selected for the durability of the materials, the low maintenance and a recognizable design: seats and tables in prefabricated concrete, suitably treated with stain-resistant, oil- resistant and anti-degradation resins; all furnishings guarantee durability, resistance to vandalism and low maintenance requirements.

Text provided by the architects.

A shift in model.
The family that owns the land is currently focused on transitioning from an extractive model toward one of ecological conservation. Their vision involves adventure tourism, taking advantage of the towering volcanic rock walls for climbing. They’ve introduced camping areas, and now, lodgings.

Lodgings that carry the memory of a quarry.
All obsolete items left behind by the quarry have been repurposed and revalued, forming a dialogue between time and memory that defines this unique context. The character of the lodgings is inseparable from that of the quarry itself.

In this process of spatial remediation, materials come from three sources:
(1) The natural context – The massive stones placed on site are remnants and absences of what was once extracted over the years; they now serve as structural supports. Along the 50-meter-high, 400-meter-wide cliff wall, flat stones have been deposited — these were used for the sinks. Gravel and sand were reused in walkways and outdoor spaces.

(2) Recycled materials – Vibrating screens and old oil pipeline tubes now serve as structural elements. Metal parts, carved stones, rods, and timbers (such as staves and beams) were salvaged from old constructions in Baños. A thick roll of steel cable, a scoop, small digger teeth, and other machinery spare parts were also reused. These recycled elements embrace the new visitors, creating spaces with the spirit and soul of the quarry while harmonizing with the native vegetation.

(3) The volcano – New pine and colorado wood provide the spatial quality and comfort needed for the interior of the lodgings and the shared dining area. The structures are built using two large trusses prefabricated on the ground — simple to make and easy to lift. The overall experience is that of an observatory, one that looks directly out at the Tungurahua Volcano, enhancing its majesty and grounding the visitor deeply in the spirit of the place.

Text provided by the architects.

Wood as main material

The Naples Underground Central Station had been built on an urban grid designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange as part of an upgrade of the city’s infrastructure.

Kenzo Tange designed the Centro Direzionale and built a city very much in his own style, with reflective skyscrapers, a 1970s piazza, which did not work because it is so different from the rest of Naples.

One of the decisions of the project was to build the station with wood to create an organic contrast with the 1970s neighbourhood. The design of the new station was inspired by older areas of Naples.

Today, it is a place where there are many offices and commercial spaces, but at five o’clock in the afternoon, it is deserted making it an unsafe place. So, the idea of making a new station there and connecting it to the new metro line was also to try to introduce a piece of nature and a piece of the original part of Naples into this artificial part of the city. The new station is being built over the existing metro lines, replacing an earlier building that was little more than a cover for the stairs leading down to the metro platforms.

Wood is a very light material that blends perfectly with the pre-existing structures: we used the concrete structures and columns and inserted new wooden columns into them. The steel part of the concrete matches to make the base of the new columns, and then the rest of the column is entirely made of wood.

The characteristic shape of the 10,000 sqm station is made of glued laminated timber. The width of the train tracks below is reflected in the width of the undulating vaults.

Vaults are a regular feature of the studio. It is an architectural device that works with most materials because historically, vaults were made first with stone and then with ceramic, and today it is effective with wood, especially glulam because it can be moulded into any shape you want beam to be. The vaulted ceilings are also a nod to classic train stations that are often vaulted, while the shape of the station was intended to create the feeling of a “walk in the woods”.

In a way, what we tried to achieve is a kind of new organic, flowing piazza, as if we were walking through a forest when we are actually in such an artificial business centre.
The Centro Direzionale is one of the new metro stations within the new infrastructure projects in Naples designed by well-known architects and designers, such as Zaha Hadid or Karim Rashid, which are being designed for the city under the AAA (architecture, art and archaeology) motto.
However, the overall project has been delayed several times due to archaeological finds on the ground, including the design by Studio Fuksas which will now also serve as a museum after the discovery of an ancient Roman temple on the site.

The Centro Direzionale station did not have the same problem, as it is located in a newer part of the city, but construction was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The station will feature a piece of art on its ceiling depicting a face from an archaeological piece found in Pompeii, in a nod to both the art and architecture of the project’s motto.

Text provided by the architects.

The central part of the Jingyang Camphor Court consists of a wooden cloister encircling the lush camphor trees, which establishes a unique atmosphere at the core of the complex. All new hotel programs such as verandas, guest rooms, conference spaces, and restaurants are arranged around and connected to this central cloister. site limitations, no other large public spaces other than the cloister could be created. The distances between the walls of the different volumes are very narrow, akin to the narrow width between the exterior walls of local vernacular buildings. By putting all buildings in close proximity to each other, an intimate, personal, and nostalgic atmosphere is created, with guests able to discover the different material tonalities arranged along a path, like wandering through a maze.

The hotel’s western area features a new courtyard-type building with the three buildings’ gable walls advancing and retreating to form small public plazas in front of them. From the exterior, these buildings’ subtle setback from the existing straight street draws the guests and public in. The entrance is located on the east of the site and has a deliberately low and unassuming profile, in accordance with the presence of trees and folded canopies. The subtle and human-oriented scale creates an intimate and welcoming atmosphere upon arrival. The hotel rooms are located in the old dormitory space, north of the central courtyard. Its walls were kept, while a new structure penetrates and juts out of the existing volume. Each hotel room has a balcony that faces the interior courtyard and the promenade spaces between the buildings.

The new restaurant is located in the former factory structure in the southern part of the site. The original side walls of this industrial relic were kept and thermal and sound insulation were added. Besides overall structural reinforcements, a new metal roof structure was added to increase the buildings’ safety. The ceiling height was also increased, and new skylights were introduced, creating a more pleasant and contemporary spatial atmosphere for guests while also paying homage to the site’s industrial past.

The bricks of the original structures had a red and orange hue. We wanted to honor this palette when opting for the tonality of the new buildings. Throughout the hotel, we used warm-colored concrete and a thin layer of tiles with a similar gradient. The external walls of the old and new volumes are a mix of kiln and old clay bricks and between the old and the new bricks, a warm-colored concrete is cast in place to create a harmonious transition between the preserved elements and those newly added. Their materiality, color, and texture are closely related to the history of porcelain production in Jingdezhen.

The Jingyang Camphor Court creates a new type of hotel experience with a publicly accessible courtyard that is as large as possible. Next to creating a tranquil and natural environment, the strategy of preservation, renovation, and revitalization of an existing warehouse was central for the arrangement and massing of new programs and creating a new and inviting atmosphere and future for this hotel.

Text provided by the architects.

It’s a working space and a service zone for the outdoor area. The reinforced concrete wall that defines part of the east elevation folds inwards to create a surface where a large sink has been positioned.

It’s a spatial delimitation device, an edge that defines zones and mediates uses. The wall of the previous cabin, with its uneven and stratified texture has been maintained and consolidated in order to sustain the new construction. Light gray coating covers the old masonry to unify and underline that presence.

Details are basic. Definitions are literal. Reinforced concrete is used for base and wall. Wood for almost everything else: laminated wood for structure, burned chestnut for skin and roof, untreated chestnut for frames, plywood for inserts and niche, an old trunk became a step. A poor quality iron frame defines the door.In the end it’s only a wall, a box with a niche, a door and its window, two pivots, a step and a handle. Almost nothing else.

Text provided by the architects.