Casa Sociale Caltron
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Casa Sociale Caltron

Mirko Franzoso architetto

Casa Sociale Caltron
By Francesco Pagliari -

This community centre is a place for social gatherings and meetings, designed to be flexible to cater for small or large events. 
The project was the winner in a competition run by the Cles municipality that was only open to designers under 35. The goal of this design is not simply to create a "centre" for social interaction, but to complete the process of integrating the building into the landscape. This includes exploring the relationship between contemporariness and the historical layout of the built landscape, which consists of the old centre and surrounding areas where orchards predominate, leading to a landscape marked by rows of fruit trees planted by humans and other typical agricultural features. The complex is a composite space in which nature and cultivation become dominant aspects. The idea was also to use architectural elegance to differentiate this centre from the nearby constructions. This building effectively mediates between the surrounding elements - buildings, farms, nature - to create its own innovative identity, while simultaneously suggesting a sense of deep roots.  The project has a number of reference points: creating a centre for socialising; integrating local building materials with truly contemporary spaces and uses; and forming a tight connection between interior and exterior spaces. These references are then amplified, both in the visual effect and through the use of walkways and access points. The volume rises two storeys, in a geometrically compact structure that is clearly secured on a washed, coloured concrete base - marked by the local porphyry stone - that houses the garage and follows the slope of the land.  The rectangular ground floor has a room for meetings and social gatherings. This is an open, flexible space where copious use is made of larch strips (floor, walls, ceiling). On the eastern side, large windows protected by a covered loggia overlook the entrance terrace, while the opposite side is closed as it burrows into the slope. The north side has three areas that can be accessed from the meeting room: the cooking area - with its glazed façade looking east -, an office and storage space, and the restrooms. The upper floor has a belvedere that, once again, is characterised by wood, which is used for the pillars and beams that support the roof, the pillar supporting the ridge beam, the interior panelling and floor (once again, larch). The belvedere looks east and west across the landscape, marked by the rhythm of the wooden pillars; from the outside, it allows the view to reach inside, where wood dominates. These elements all help to identify this "centre" on the outskirts of the urban area. 
The rhythm and structure of the elevations are essential in creating a building that is both a continuation and an innovation. On the north and south sides, the façades are closed and covered with vertical larch panels. On the east and west sides, they are open, marked by the regular spacing of the wooden pillars. The use of wood as a structural and decorative element brings a sense of material, colour and rhythm, recalling the tree trunks that abound in these parts. The colour porphyry transpires from the concrete. The rhythm of the pillars on the façades, with the consequent use of solids and voids, is a reminder of the rows of fruit trees that order the valley below. 
Francesco Pagliari   

 

Location: Cles, Trento
Client: Comune di Cles
Completion: 2015
Gross Floor Area: 440 m2 
Cost of Construction: 750.000 Euros 
Architects: Mirko Franzoso Architetto

Consultants
Concrete structures: Paolo Leonardi, Pro-engineering
Strutture in Legno: Sergio Marinelli
Technical Systems: Walter Dallago, Giorgio Rollandini
Security: Valter Visintainer

Fornitori
Exterior glazing assemblies: WOLF Fenster Naz
Glass work: Vetreria Bentivoglio
Doors: Falegnameria Odorizzi Fabio & C.
Sheet metal work: Pasquazzo e Perozzo Scurelle
Metalwork: Officina del design

Photography: © Mariano Dallago

 

Mirko Franzoso Architetto
Franzoso was born in Cles in 1978. He attended the Venice School of Architecture, graduating in 2005. After working for a number of practices, he launched his independent career in 2009, focusing on architectural design at various levels, from initial studies through to final design, in projects ranging from restructuring to new builds, restoration to design.
Franzoso has won numerous international architecture and design competitions, as an individual and with other professionals, and is involved with the preparation of final drawings with several studies in the Italian province of Trento. In 2009 he won the D&A Design competition, organized by the Milan Polytechnic. He won the international “Fondo per il paesaggio,” organized by the Province of Trento, in 2011. Then in 2012 he won the invitation-only competition for the construction of new social housing in the village of Caltron, Cles. This particular design received an honourable mention in the international Nature award for young architects, organized as part of the Tianjin Design Week exhibition in China.

 

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