Type of project
Residential and Commercial Complex
Year
2017 – in progress
Tag
Plaster Geometry Landscape Corten Steel Stone Housing
Status
In Progress
Location
San Gimignano, Italy
The main objective of the project is to create the definitive southern edge of the town of San Gimignano and to simultaneously create a dialogue with the existing settlement, trying to restore personality to a district that was developed between the 70s and 80s and which, nowadays, compares poorly in its visual relationship with the historic town.
The new residential complex structure serves to connect the urbanised area and the agricultural zone to the south through its functional and spatial organisation.
The complex remains attached to the town through a square in which there are municipal offices and commercial premises. Simultaneously, the project aggregates the buildings around two appurtenant squares in the central lengthwise hub; these spaces provide community functions and a high-quality common space, with clear references to residential elements from the rural tradition, such as a barnyard.
The polygonal buildings are clad in natural stone at the base and rough pigmented plaster, with a colour palette that draws on the tones of the various surrounding terrains on the other levels.
We attempted to minimise the technological accessories and inflections that would have clashed badly with the area’s genius loci; we essentially worked on sculpting the shapes to give the project a contemporary character. Considering the complex morphology of the terrain and, at the same time, the need to set some levels on the flat, we strived to accommodate the natural progression of the hillside contour lines by minimising cut and fill operations. Accordingly, we made extensive use of the low stone walls that start from the buildings and split apart until they dissolve into the surrounding agricultural landscape.
