Punta Nave Office

Architect: Renzo Piano
1991 . Genova














Perched on the slopes of a hill above the sea, Punta Nave houses the Genova headquarters of the Renzo Piano building workshop
Composed of a system of glass terraces gradually sloping towards the sea, the building recalls the shapes of the greenhouses typical of the Ligurian coastline.
Zenital light plays here a major role: Photosensitive skylights regulates light intensity thus pervading the interior spaces with natural light.

by Renzo Piano

Localizada ao longo de uma encosta sobre o mar mediterrâneo, a sede do gabinete do arquitecto Renzo Piano em Génova caracteriza-se por uma distinta espacialidade, em que o edifício é desenvolvido em sucessivos mezzanines que a vão gradualmente descendo.
Com o revestimento das fachadas em vidro, e o corpo do edifício extenso e de altura linear, a sua forma acaba por fazer uma analogia às estufas que se estendem ao longo de todo aquele território.
O papel tecnológico a que as suas obras frequentemente se associam, aqui é manifestado pelo controlo da iluminação zenital com reguladores fotosensíveis que controlam a intensidade da luz de forma a permitir que os espaços interiores recebam sempre luz natural.

Broadwick House

Architect: Richard Rogers
London

Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Architect: Sadar Vuga
Ljubljana 1999














The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose task is to promote the movement and flow of capital in the Republic of Slovenia, is conceived as a "megastore".

In encompassing consultation, information and training departments and services, it acts as a local lead-in to economic globalization. What was involved in this project was the rehabilitation of the institution's offices housed in a strictly rationalist lowrise building, and the addition of a series of semi-public amenities (restaurants, library, lecture rooms, exhibition areas, archival reading room).

Project attempts explicitly to do away with any barriers between the public, semi-public and private features which are all present in this hybrid design.

By retaining the huge public forecourt, the programme along the existing building is verticalized, thus giving it a new façade, designed like boxes piled on top of each other.
Fitted between the two fronts, as if the public forecourt had been suddenly straightened, is a vertical hall, espousing the principle of continuity and interaction between the two parts of the programme.

By Sadar Vuga

Concebido como uma mega-estrutura comercial, o edíficio acaba por albergar diferentes funções de carácter semi-público, para além do programa principal, é exemplo restaurantes, livrarias, salas de leitura e de exposição.
O principal destaque, é o espaço híbrido que o caracteriza, procurando conjugar todos os géneros de espaços - público, semi-público, privado.