Creating visual identity. Via Valtorta residential complex by Cino Zucchi Architetti
10/01/2024.
[Milan] Italy
metalocus, CRISTINA RODRÍGUEZ
metalocus, CRISTINA RODRÍGUEZ
Via Valtorta residential complex by Cino Zucchi Architetti. Photograph by Filippo Poli.
Project description by Cino Zucchi Architetti
The residential complex in Via Valtorta, for which CZA has overseen the schematic and the detailed design phases – though not the final design – aims to consolidate and enrich the existing urban fabric, with particular attention to the corner of the block where Via Valtorta, Giacomo Rovetta, and Matteo Maria Boiardo intersect.
The new residential volumes play a key role in this project, seeking to establish a harmonious relationship with the surrounding environment. There is a clear commitment not only to comply with urban planning regulations but also to create a sense of unity and cohesion between the existing and new buildings. This integration is made possible by adjusting the heights of the residential complex, with the lowest block placed near the historic buildings along Via Valtorta.
These height variations also consider different perspectives and panoramic views, while simultaneously responding to the constraints of the terrain and solar orientation in different seasons.
A distinctive project element is the new urban front that forms along Via Valtorta and Via Rovetta. The variation in heights is connected by a continuous and uniform base that defines the residential entrances. This base accommodates a series of commercial activities on the north side and creates small private spaces for public use, serving both the lot entrances and the city itself.
Via Valtorta residential complex by Cino Zucchi Architetti. Photograph by Filippo Poli.
The project focuses on permeability on the ground floor between the buildings and the large inner courtyard. Here, there are commercial spaces along Via Valtorta, accessible through two passageways that provide access to the yard, stairwells, and technical and service rooms. The northeast corner is reserved for a bar or a small neighbourhood shop, completing the vitality of the ground floors along Via Valtorta and Via Rovetta.
The arrangement of the driveway ramp to the east provides access to the private parking at the basement level of the residence, ensuring an efficient flow of vehicles and compliance with traffic regulations.
The apartments, evenly distributed and well connected through a central staircase, feature spacious and bright spaces in various sizes, with the larger ones on the tower's upper floors featuring duplex flats. The main living areas on the south side always have significant loggia-balconies with large windows, while the rest of the façade is characterized by a relatively compact and regular masonry curtain, with the bedrooms and bathrooms' windows integrated.
The choice of materials reflects a meticulous consideration for the Milanese architecture of the twentieth century and the desire to create a distinctive visual identity. The plaster for the main facades facing the streets is applied on an external insulation system, while the base and minor fronts feature brick cladding. As regards the parapets of the south-facing views, which are mainly glazed, they are completed with inclined portions made of metal sticks which articulate the façades overlooking the green garden. This diversification of materials expresses the desire to continue the search for a relationship between the project and the adjacent lots without reproducing their forms and materials.
Cino Zucchi was born in Milano in 1955. He graduated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.) in 1978 and at the Politecnico di Milano in 1979, where he is currently Chair Professor of Architectural and Urban Design and member of the teaching board of the Doctorate (Ph.D.) at the Faculty of Architecture - Campus Leonardo of the Politecnico di Milano.
He has been teaching architecture in many international seminars (Berlin 1980, Pavia 1983, Mantova 1985 and 1988, Napoli 1989, 1990 and 1991, Rotterdam 1994, Pisa 1995, Barcelona 1995 and 2000, Finale Ligure 1996, Spalato 1997, Ghent 1999, Darmstadt 2000 Zagabria 2001, Hamburg 2003, Singapore 2004) and has been visiting professor at the Syracuse University in Florence in 1989 and 1990 and at the ETH in Zürich in 1997 and 1998.
His essays and writings appeared in the magazines "Domus", "Lotus international", "Casabella", "Design Book Review", "Arch+", “Intersezioni”, “Bau” and in "Qa”, of which he has been editor from 1989 to 1885. He is in the Forum of the architectural magazine “Lotus international” since 1996. He is the author of the books L'architettura dei cortili milanesi 1535-1706 published by Electa in 1989, Asnago e Vender. L'astrazione quotidiana-architetture e progetti 1925-1970 (with F. Cadeo e M. Lattuada), published by Skira in 1999, and is editor of the book Bau-Kunst-Bau published by Clean in 1994.
With the Zucchi Architetti studio, of which he is the principal, he has designed and realized many industrial, residential and public buildings, a number of projects for public spaces (XIX Triennale outdoor exibition in Piazza Cadorna, Milano, squares in Cerea, Arzignano, Milano Gratosoglio, San Donà di Piave); renewal of agricultural, industrial and historical areas
He has participated to many national and international competitions (Opera in Paris, Lützowplatz in Berlin, Garibaldi-Repubblica area in Milano, urban escalators in S.Marino and Bergamo, Borghetto Flaminio in Rome, Tarello park in Brescia, church in Foligno-2nd prize...
The urban renewal for the former-Junghans factory in the Venice has been awarded mentions at the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Fundaciò Mies van der Rohe Award - Barcelona 2001, at the Medaglia d’oro dell’Architettura Italiana 1995-2003, 2004-2006 at the Brick Award 2004 and awarded the Piranesi Award 2001, the “Comune di Venezia“ Architecture Award 2005 and the ECOLA Award 2008, in the category "Black Bread Architecture".