Bicocca Superlab

The Bicocca Superlab project by Balance Architettura is a recovery and adaptive reuse program for an industrial volume with a floor length of approximately 100 m that once housed the offices of the historic Breda Siderurgica steel works. Located in the north of Milan, the Bicocca district has seen several urban requalification projects over the years as manufacturing facilities were decommissioned. One of the city’s first industrial districts, it still has vestiges of former factories like Pirelli, Marcegaglia, Magneti Marelli, and Breda itself, testifying to a conspicuous heritage that will have to be taken into account in the future design of the city. Following in the footsteps of Milan’s recent development, the Bicocca quarter is also undergoing an ongoing economic and cultural revival. 1991 marked the construction of a teaching unit of the University of Milano-Bicocca, which involved many different projects such as Vittorio Gregotti’s Teatro degli Arcimboldi, designed in partnership Mario Botta and Elisabetta Fabbri, and the Bicocca Hangar, a contemporary art museum. 

The new Superlab office building project takes the area’s complex past into account, maintaining the feel of its industrial past. The building’s pre-existing iron frame was not only left intact, it was also stripped of the false walls and ceilings that once obscured occupants’ view. The decision to revitalize the building by intervening on its structural frame is clear already from the lower floor. The volume rests on a reinforced concrete base – half underground on one side, and above-ground on the other, where the structure has been left open to view even in places where time has left its indelible mark – a decision referencing a concept dear to the designers: acknowledging the unfinished elements in the urban context. For architects Alberto Lessan and Jacopo Bracco, founders of Balance Architettura, buildings must speak of the...

Proceed with your preferred purchase option to continue reading

Digital

5.49 €

Add to cart

Printed

15.00 €

Add to cart

Subscription

From 42.00 €

Choose subscription