We present you a very interesting project, which could be called as a social condenser. The architects designed this project as a place where citizens could relate to each other and create a dialogue between the building and the city generating future urban growth.

Memory of project DAP studio and Paola Giaconia

The new Cultural Center in Ranica, medieval town near Bergamo in Northern Italy, contains a public library, an auditorium, a kindergarten, and a school for dance and theater.

With its 2.000 square meters, the Center is conceived as a new catalyst of urban life. Not only is the building a laboratory for education and information, but it also becomes a new “piazza” where people can meet and where citizens can reinforce their sense of belonging to their territory.

The site where the building rises, located midway between the city center and an area of urban growth, is destined to turn into an important hub. The building represents a sort of threshold between the scale of the city and the scale of the surrounding territory.

Aim of this project is to trigger a dialogue between the new building, the city center and the infrastructural system. If historically piazzas are defined by the visual and physical boundaries of the buildings surrounding them, in this project we tried to open up the building to city life by welcoming pedestrians into its core, under the large overhanging volume. The large slab is pierced by a series of openings, along its perimeter -next to the main entrances- as well as in the middle, where two large courtyards bring natural light and fresh air.

The building is organized on two floors: the upper volume is cantilivered out from the lower floor, and seems to be floating above ground. The distinction between the two volumes is made even stronger by means of the choice of materials: the ground floor is enclosed by glazed and stuccoed walls, while the facades of the upper volume are made of colored, sometimes semi-opaque polycarbonate panels which allow for silhouettes of people inside the building to be revealed outside.

The compactness of the exterior volumes is coupled by a complexity of the interiors. In the wide double-height space of the library, the various program areas appear as independent volumes, connected by aerial catwalks from which visitors can constantly appreciate the central patio. The idea was to create a scenario where the links between the program areas could turn into pleasant meeting points, similarly to what happens in the streets and piazzas in the city.

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Architects
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Elena sacco - Paolo danelli (DAP studio) and Paola Giaconia.
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Collaborators
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Team collaborators.- Pasquale Gallo, Alessia Mosci, Laura Tagliabue, Paolo Vimercati; Davide Arrigoni (structural engineer), Milanoprogetti S.p.A. (mechanical, electrical, plumbing engineers); Silvano Armellini, Bruno Sciola (architects, site construction supervision).
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Contractors
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Edil Emmeti srl - Bergamo (building construction), Caslini sas - Bergamo (mechanical systems), Dragoimpianti srl - Bergamo (electrical and lighting systems), Rodeca - Bergamo (polycarbonate panels), Biblio sas - Treviso (furnishings).
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Dates
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2007-2010 (construction), 2005-2006 (design).
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Area
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Public library: 850 sqm, kindergarten: 370 sqm, auditorium: 230 sqm, dance and theater school: 310 sqm, bar: 50 sqm, underground parking: 430 sqm.
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Venue / location
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Ranica, Bergamo. Italy.
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Awards
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06/2012.- Shortlisted for the Gold Medal to Italian Architecture.
05/2012.- Special Prize of the Union of Architects in Russia, Interarch Silver Medal and Honorary Diploma at lnterarch-Sofia, the Thirteenth World Triennial of Architecture.
01/2011.- Awarded First Prize as Best Public Building (jury chair: Aurelio Galfetti), Institute of Architects in Bergamo, Italy.
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Photography
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Alessandra Bello.
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Paola Giaconia, arquitecto, graduada con honores en arquitectura en el Politécnico de Milán en Italia. Beneficiaria de una beca Fulbright, obtuvo su Máster en Arquitectura de SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) en Los Ángeles, donde luego trabajó para el estudio Morphosis. Ella junta su actividad como diseñadora con la investigación académica: ella es profesora visitante en la California State University y la Kent State University, los programas de Florencia. Paola ha estado dando conferencias sobre la arquitectura contemporánea y participando en mesas redondas en diversas instituciones culturales y escuelas de arquitectura. Ella contribuye a las más importantes revistas de arquitectura italiana. Es co-editor, con Marco Brizzi, de los catálogos de las dos últimas ediciones del festival BEYOND MEDIA (INTIMACY y SCRIPT) y comisario, desde 2003, de la exposición "SPOT ON SCHOOLS". Su monografía sobre Eric Owen Moss (Eric Owen Moss. The Uncertainty of Doing) fue publicada por Skira en 2006.

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DAP studio was founded in 1992 in Milan by Elena Sacco and Paolo Danelli, graduates from the Faculty of Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. Their office has been working for public and private clients, on architectural projects which range in scale from interiors to houses to libraries. In the last few years they have focused especially on the design of cultural institutions.

They couple their design activity with the management and development of cultural projects. DAP studio participated in the 12th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, in the Italian Pavillion, and were nominated for the 2011 Mies van der Rohe award. In 2009 they received a mention at the Golden Medal Prize for Italian Architecture (Premio Medaglia d’Oro all’Architettura Italiana).

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