Type of project
Commercial Building
Year
2010
Tag
Alluminium Stone Plaster Glass Geometry
Mentions
AND N.24
Photographers
Paola De Pietri
Status
Completed
Location
Todi, Italy
The former Tuderte oil mill, as the name suggests, was a building characterised by its past function. It was part of a complex of activities linked to the agricultural consortium, located within and adjacent to the town walls that ran along the Orvietana ring road.
The Orvietana ring road skirts the massive and silent town walls on one side and a residential area with variable density to the south, towards the valley. The area of the former oil mill is located on this slope. It is a meeting space, suspended within the incredibly unspoilt landscape at that elevation and overlooking the “inhabited” walls in that stretch of the defensive town wall.
The seemingly contradictory dual aspect of historical context and isolation is precisely what makes this place special and unique in Todi.
We devised a layout to reinforce and resolve the area’s complexities. We abandoned the more straightforward, and less expensive, single volumes that would merely be replacements for the previous ones. We did so in order to establish a more proportionate and dynamic relationship between the elements at play.
The basement level was organised to create an appurtenant parking area, onto which the essential form of a pedestal is traced and clad with basalt. Even though the base does not directly interact with the town walls but with the residences, this material bestows a sense of belonging on the place, since stone cladding is directly linked to Umbria’s building tradition.
Once the street level was recovered on the ring road, two volumes were cantilevered out from the pedestal and shifted in correlation with the edge of the road. While equal in size, these volumes are completely different in terms of position and surface treatment. The four elements (basement, base, plus two volumes) were then knitted together by the transparent and expressive promenade of the stairwell, which carves a fragile space, offering a glimmer of light within the solidity of the blocks.
