ARCHITECTURE

PORTFOLIO
ALESSANDRO MARTINELLI
e-mail:alearchi90@gmail.c om

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ORIZONTAL SKYSCRAPER.............................................................................1
EXPOitGO.................................................................................................................. 7
HOUSE CAFFAR.................................................................................................. 12
CHICAGO COLUMN.......................................................................................... 17
GREEN NET.......................................................................................................... 22

ORIZONTAL
SKYSCRAPER
LABORATORY COURSE IN
ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING 3
Project for the city of Gorizia,
Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

June 2012

Group Project

This project has been carried out by a group of 8 people,

mine role was that of the group leader, I had been chosen to
lead the group because the basic idea is my own, but the final
solution contains a contribution of the whole group.

Professors:
Prof. Stefano Gri e Prof. Piero Zucchi
geza@geza.it
The demands of the project include: the creation of a
students dorm and community services within an area
located upon the Isonzo, a river near Gorizia.

PLANIMETRY AND CONCEPT

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The idea behind the project is
a building consisting of a single block
that rests on the banks of the river,
which creates a inhabited bridge, alters the surrounding land and connects two districts of the city of Gorizia.

The initial project concept originates from the desire to create a
new polarity in the city, creating a tie
with the river: in the current situation,
the city is completely alien to the river.
The project has evolved in stages while maintaining the formal characteristics of the initial idea and developing
gradually more and more issues.

The building changes the
surrounding landscape and the two
blocks ends in contact with the banks
are treated in two different ways: to
the east side the horizontal skyscra-

per stands on a square, creating a filter space and opening up towards the
city; to the west, on the other hand,
the building faces the mountain, drilling it and creating a relationship of
full-empty.

This difference also affects
the design of the two shores: ordered
and stiff the east, natural and romantic the west. In addition, to contrast the
grandeur of the horizontal skyscraper,
a volume.

In addition to this, I imagined
some trees to contrast the volume of
the horizional skyscraper: its lightness
and similarity in size and shape is in
contrast with the massive volume of
the building. The volume is positioned
relative to the guideline of the historical neighboring buildings, which rule the
entire composition of the east bank.

INTERIOR LAYOUT

The building is divided into 7 levels, which are divided into 3 areas: the
mobility area -the automotive (-1) and
cycle and pedestrian (0)-; the area of
public services (1 and 2); the area of
residence for students (3:04) and the
green cover an the upper level.

The appearance of the building
is unified by an outer skin made of metal mesh, which provides both shading
for the inside and view to the outside.
The internal structure is characterized
by solids and voids, because of the design choice to create spaces with different functions inside the building.

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STUDENTS DORM
AND SERVICES

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View of the library

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The Student House is located in levels 3 and 4 and has a modular arrangement with the common areas positioned between two
blocks of rooms. Throughout the
building we find four residential areas connected with the rest of the
building by four lifts (one for each
area) and two vertical connections
that also act as meeting and rest
places (represented in the render
below).

There are single or double
rooms; each room has its own toilet
and study space, while the remaining part of the services, such as the
kitchen and living room, are located
in the common area. The blocks of
rooms are made up of eight rooms
per floor on two levels and they all
overlook the inner gardens, that are
meant to bring in enlightenment.
These gardens are located at Level
2, togheter with the services (the
render below shows an example of
the study classroom).

View of vertical connections

net, balsa, spong

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TERRITORIAL IN
PROJECT WIT TEGRATION MODEL 1:500 120
X220cm
materials used: w H INTERIORS MODEL 1:50
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oodpaper, depro
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380cm
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EXPOitGO
LABORATORY COURSE IN
ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING 1
Project for the city of Gorizia,
Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

June 2010

Individual Project

This project was my first approach to architecture, developed

in the second semester of the first year, I still arouses the interest for the topics covered.

Professor:
Prof. Gianfranco Guaragna
gguaragna@units.it
The demands of the project include: the creation of an
exposition area near the historical centre of Gorizia.

PLANIMETRY AND
CONTEST

Planimetry

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Plan of the lot

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It is evident from the plan that
the lot is very small and this factor heavily influenced the design of the building, because it was necessary to take
advantage of the vertical instead of the
horizontal expansion.

Another key aspect of this
project is the study of light and views. As
it can be seen from the the plan, the lot
is flanked by two houses, with five and
three floors above ground respectively;
the side facing the road is oriented north-east and the only side that receives
direct sun light is on the back of the building, enclosed in a 9 meter high courtyard building.

Therefore, this situation originates the basic requirements that the
project must fulfill.

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Elevation of the existing

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EXPOSITION PROJECT

From this perspective section, the internal
arrangement of the stairs can be easily observed:
it is deliberately articulated to give the visitor a
sense of disorientation and to break up the dullness .

The visitor, in fact, becomes unconsciously more attentive to what surrounds him: the
architecture affects and involves the visitor before everything else, regardless of what he/she is
being exposed to.

In a situation like this, the space problem
is definitely one of the main points to be solved,
and for this reason in the project the elevation of
Formica street is extruded to the outside.

This extension allows the creation of an inner and empty triple-height space, so it transform
a small volume into something more complex, which creates surprise to the visitor who enters.
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Floor 4

Floor 3

Floor 2

Floor 1

Floor 0

Floor 0

Floor 1

Floor 2

Floor 3

Floor 4

LIGHT PROJECT

The intended use of the building
-the exhibition- makes essential the use
of natural lighting, so it was decided to
obtain the openings by moving outwards
gradually the walls on each floor of the
south side, allowing, in this way, the direct
light to reach also the ground floor.

In the render below you can see
the three openings in the wedge shape, which bring the light in indirectly and
the main of these brings light to the triple-height space.

The openings morphology causes the light to enter and to be reflected,
hence creating an inner uniform illumination, which is an essential element for an
exhibition.

Concept Model 1:200

Side view

Windows view

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W O R K S H O P
GREE N_ SPAC E S
DIGITAL

AND

MODEL

WORK

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HOUSE CAFFAR
PROFESSIONAL PROJECT

September 2012

Project for the city of Villesse,

Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy
This project was my first work experience, it taught me how
to relate with the client and how to design thinking about
the realization phases. My task has been the architectural
design and supervision during the construction work.

Chief Engineer:
Ing.Lorenzo Marini
marini77@lorenzomarini.191.it
The demands of the project include:
- accommodation for 4 people, 2 adults and 2 children.

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PLANIMETRY AND CONCEPT

The building is located
between residential and industrial areas; in the lot of the
project there are two pre-existing homes of other clients family members.

The concept is very
simple: the creation of openings, oriented to favour the view

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of the countryside and limiting

those to the industry and to
the neighboring houses, in order to ensure the privacy of
the family.

Due to the presence of
disturbing elements of moderate height, the floor was raised to allow a view over them.

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EXPLODED DIAGRAM
AND PLANT
Roofing tiles in cement

Glulam beam structure

The client set a limit
on the size of the project to
120 square meters; the spending threshold was placed to
200,000 . The budget did not
allow the building of a two levels structure, hence the need
to design everything on a unique floor.

To take full advantage of the space,I designed an

open space that embeds the

living room, dining room and kitchen, and which is illuminated
from the large window that allows the view of the countryside from the living area.

The sleeping area has
2 single rooms and one double
bedroom; the client has also
required 2 bathrooms and 2
service rooms.

Roof slab

Internal partitions in brick

Ground floor slab

Load-bearing brick masonry

Continuous foundations
reinforced concrete
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1- Structure
2- Insulation
3- Interspace ventilated
4- Ridge beam

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SECTION AND
DETAILS

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Window frame
Inner insulating layer

Outer insulating layer

Ventilated interspace

Curb

Boarding

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Continuous foundations

Concrete tiles

Lean concrete

Copper roof gutter

Plaster

Concrete and masonry

flooring system

Glulam beam

Load-bearing brick

From the section we can
see that the foundations are
continuous and a sanitary vacuum was created by raising the
ground floor.

Foundations and supporting beams are made of reinforced concrete, the perimeter
walls and the partition walls are
made of hollow brick, the roof
covering is supported by Glulam
beams and Boarding, and it consists of concrete tiles.

The highlighted executive
details show the more complex
parts of the building, representing the materials used and the
building elements stratigraphy.
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PICTURES OF THE

COSTRUCTION
SITE
DURING
THE
VARIOUS WORK STAGES

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CHICAGO
C O LU M N
FINAL THESIS

May 2013

Individual Project
The thesis has been a very formative experience, I appreciated the research work and the in-depth analysis of an
interesting architecture like this.
Supervisors:
Prof.Alberto Sdegno and Prof. Denis Mior
sdegno@units.it
denis@media-network.it

Title:
ADOLF LOOSS PROJECT FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.
Geometric analysis, typological references
and digital representation

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PERSPECTIVE
COMPARISON


The purpose of my thesis is the
analysis of the project for the Chicago
Tribune by Adolf Loos, obtained through
the study of drawings by the same architect, documents and sources found.
The project by A. Loos was not chosen
as the winner of the competition but,
thanks to its morphology and its use
of an architectural order as arketipo,
stands out for its uniqueness and innovation.

The lot of the competition is
located in Chicago, specifically in an allotment owned by the Chicago Tribune,
placed at the intersection of Michigan
Avenue and Austin Avenue. Its is 100
feet wide and 130 feet long, with a height limit set at 400 feet.

The thesis starts from the study of Greek and Roman architectural
orders, especially focusing on the proportions of the ancient Doric column,
and then it starts with the research and
then continues individuation of the proportions used in the composition of this
building, highlighting the similarities or
differences with the classical orders.

The digital reconstruction -based only on the documents of the front
elevation, a type-plant of the shaft and
a perspective, submitted for the competition in 1922- was created using
Autodesk Revit, a parametric design
software, which has been a fundamental tool, because making possible to
manage a very complex project and to
represent adequately the drawings.
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E L E V AT I O N

With the architects intention to reintroduce the theme of
the Greek Doric column, is natural to wonder how the figure of A.
Loos, openly against the ornament,
can review the ancient orders, although it is clear that in the project
there are many points in contrast
with the classical order.

The first point to deal with
is the presence of a base that recalls the function of a socle, which
was not foreseen by the Greek Doric order, but it is not even comparable to the proportions oo the
Roman one.

In fact, it is without cymatium or plinth, and it has a ratio
between height and base that is
unbalanced compared to the other
orders: the latter usually is about
2/2.5, while the A. Loos order has
a ratio of 1.4, that is very squat.

The shafts height is
another aspect to be analyzed: the
Doric order defines the height of
the column to 7 or 8 modules, while the projects column measures 3
and modules, so this is also very
stocky compared to the classicals
proportions.

In the event that in the
competition announcement height
limits was not fixed, the architect
imagined the total height of the
building would had been more than
200 meters -maintaining the classic proportions and using the same
diameter of the designed column-.

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EXPLODED

AXONOMETRIC VIEW

Is it clear how the proportions of the Doric Greek order are
not observed. The motivation for
this is given in the competition notice, because it demanded a minimum height of 175 feet for the entire surface of the lot: this is, in fact,
the height of the base volume.

Therefore A. Loos has used
(non un present perfect, used past simple va benissimo!) the greater height restrictions-225 feetpermitted by for the building and,
to avoid a sudden change in width
between the base and column, he
has thought of designing the final

part of the base with terraces,

thereby increasing the visibility of
the column from below.

The choice of such a squat
column is definitely influenced by
the competition notice, which required large office spaces, and a
thin column-as from classical proportions- would not have been
adequate.

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AUGMENTED
REALIT Y

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The term Augmented Reality refers
to a set of technologies that enable the fusion/merger of real and virtual.

Augmented Reality allows the visualisation of a three-dimensional object by filming
a marker -a printed image associated with
the object- with a video camera and it allows
the interactions with it by moving it physically.

The camera recognizes the marker,
and the software reproduces on the screen
the image of the associated object. Moving the
marker will cause the projected image of the
building to move as well.

Presenting a project, a client (who is
usually profane in the architectural representation) could hardly understand with the traditional methods of representation.

Despite that, the Augmented Reality
could be a turning point: it could really overturn
the idea of canonical representation as the
client could simply interact with the three-dimensional model of the building just by turning
the marker or approaching it to the camera.

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GR E E N N E T
LABORATORY COURSE IN
URBAN PLANNING 2

March 2012

Project for the city of Gorizia,

Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

Group Project

This project has been carried out by a group of 3 people, we

did not choose a leader, because we have found it very useful
to openly discuss our ideas in a democratic manner.

Professors:
Prof.Paola Di Biagi and Prof. Maurizio Bonizzi
maurizio@ufficioxarchitettura.it
pdibiagi@units.it

The purpose of the project is to analyze in the first

place and then to determine a development plan for
the city of Gorizia.

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ANALYSIS
AND
PLANNING
STRATEGIES

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Our work began
with the analysis of the city
of Gorizia, where we observed in particular the relationship between different
elements: the study of the
buildings, the cataloguing
of the green materials, the
historical development, the
relationship with the surrounding area, the infrastructure analysis and the
distribution of productive
sectors.

From this analysis
of the main solid volumes
(the buildings and the river)

it is possible to see that

how Gorizia has developed primarily in the space
between the river and the
border between Italy-Slovenia.
These
borders
have caught our attention,
prompting us to seek the
causes of the urban development.

The first step was
to identify a strip of urban
fabric containing the main
green spaces, which would
create a connection over
the two borders and resew
the city.

The second was to
identify some green areas
that, overlapped with the
road networks, created a
link along the way: the GreenNet.

Finally, we have
themed these areas to link
them to the urban context.

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MASTERPLAN

This table shows the
project on a territorial scale in
which the most important elements are represented: the
starting and ending points A
and B -which serve as a link
with the Great Parks system
of paths-, the GreenNet and
the green spaces inside the
urban fabric.

The thematic educational area will be further
explained in detail, because it is
central and representative of
the project concept, which we
believe to be applicable in the
other areas.

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IN-DEPTH
EDUCATION
AREA

The study of this
area shows that it is possible to adopt a territorial scale concept even
on the small scale: the
link is seen as a tool for
interaction of the urban
fabric with the different
thematic areas.
Woonerf composition

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Woonerf sketch

Area plan

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Woonerf entry

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Woonerf concept

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DETAILS AND URBAN ELEMENTS

The study of the project
has led us to investigate the functioning of the Woonerf.

We researched a module that will facilitate the realization
of the project; we studied the various possibilities and necessary
combinations; we looked for new
methods of the roadsides design,
investigating the citizens habits,
needs and requirements.

The project aims to create
a new synergy at the urban level,
starting from solutions such as the
woonerf, which allows the citizens
to rediscover new spaces, to identify the street as a meeting and
rest place -and not just as a mere
infrastructure- and, above all, to
reconsider the pedestrians main
role in the street.

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