Dwelling Monza / Andrea Bulloni & Enrico Bertonazzi (IS ARCH Awards Candidacy)

Text by the architects

Based in Monza the main aim of the design studio was to design a multifunctional complex of about 18.000 square meters in an ex-industrial area.

The project area is located next to the old royal villa of Monza, yet its historical value comes from the productive period of the city of Monza. The urban block was a textile factory and this could be read easily from the relation of the volumes between the area and the context.

As soon as we looked at the urban asset we understood the singularity of the urban block, making it one of the few blocks in the city with particular features. An industrial impenetrable ring, the old front, is neglecting all the relationship with the context; but neglecting a relation is a in fact a relation itself.

Since the beginning of the process our decision has been the preservation of the exceptional atmosphere of the urban block; all the marginal area facing the street will be preserved, hosting in the same structure, all the commercial functions (like atelier, shops, co-working spaces and exposition galleries), while in the middle of the project site the old factory leaves space for a new residential block.

The public space is designed to keep the visual connection through all the space although it allows different levels of privacy. The central space is lowered and it`s the heart of the project. Neighbourhood activities are facing the central plaza and a series of stairs and ramps allows people to switch from the central plaza to the commercial old volumes. The landscape is designed to change the meaning from area to area, near the living space is more colourful and warm, but as soon as we approach the industrial and commercial area, it becomes more urban.

Shaped to be high functional to the dwelling program, the volumes are designed to host luxury apartments. The apartments follow many different sizes to accept many types of users, the distribution locates duplex in the tower blocks and along the edge where we can find independent gardens, while simpler typology fills the remaining parts. All the residences have double view, the innerior around the public space is hosting the living rooms, while the exterior, along the commercial ring, hosts the bedrooms.

Following the starting decision to preserve the atmosphere of Monza, our choice for the construction materials has been driven by the context itself. The lower part under the projection of near building is in clay bricks. This decision aims to underline the presence of the history of the area of Monza, while the tower blocks who “come out” like additional parts  have a metal finishing to underline the different function.

Andrea Bulloni earned his bachelor’s Degree in architecture in 2015 at Politecnico di Milano,with the thesis “Pattern and architecture; from ornament to social behavior,morpho-typological repetitions in the urban environment”. He worked more than 2 years in Milan for Archistudio-architectural group service,Moa Architects and LAND srl where he gained experience in interior design, architecture and landscape architecture, then for more than two years in the Netherlands at Karres en Brands Landscapearchitect and at De Architekten CIE. During this experience he worked at and won many international design competitions like;-IFC Moscow –Skovlunde -Serp&Molot -Soyuz Riverfront -ING Head office and many others.

After this experience he decided to continue his studies at Politecnico di Milano maintaining his main focus on sustainability. Now he is attending a masters program in Architecture and sustainable Technology and he`s working as freelance architect and designer with Matteo Ciabattini at M/A architecture where he`s the co/founder. In the last year they took part in several projects, that got published on websites and newspaper and they won the Liberland Design competition.

Enrico Bertonazzi graduated in “Sustainable Architecture” bachelor’s Degree in 2015 at Politecnico di Milano and is now completing his academic career with the masters in “Architecture and Sustainable Technology”.

During his studies he took part in many different academic competitions and workshops, reaching placement in many of them: above all the 1° prize in “Call for project: Hortus & Campus”, getting the opportunity to build up the project, an installation for the university campus of Politecnico di Milano in Piacenza; a 2° prize in the “International Summer School” of Politecnico di Milano, that year focused on the theme “Nature in the City”; an honorable mention in the workshop “LTO Rediscover Waterscapes”, as conclusion of the last design studio of the bachelor. He also collaborated with the communal administration of Piacenza to realize a Lego© digital model of the city hall with the aim to realise a scale model of it.