Bricolage City
Groenewoud (NL) - Winner
TEAM PORTRAIT
VIDEO (by the team)
INTERVIEW
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1. How do you define the main issue of your project in relation with the theme “Living Cities Imagining architecture taking care of the milieus”? And in which way do you think your project can contribute to an ecological and/or social evolution?
Bricolage City responds to the housing emergency in the Netherlands by introducing housing typologies that combine living and working. The project refuses any kind of demolition, enhancing instead the existing qualities and dealing with the site challenges and the social issues. This design choice is a clear gesture in favour of circular construction, feasibility, economy and care for people and places. Acknowledging the challenges posed by climate change, the project addresses flood risks through the incorporation of bioswales and a vegetation palette that aids in water absorption and retention.
2. How did the issues of your design and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?
Bricolage City starts with a reflection on the role of the garden city in the 21st century. It defines a series of punctual interventions that harmoniously densify Groenewoud and preserve the balanced proportion between green areas and built environments by working with what already exists. Concerning the existing buildings, the design redefines spatial boundaries by incorporating vegetation as natural dividers, delineating private, semi-public, and public areas within the residential complex.
PROJECT:
Alessandro’s work and educational experience in the Netherlands and Belgium allowed us to study and research garden cities such as Le Logis en Floréal in Brussels. The case studies were inspiring for the relationship between landscape and built environment. The project "Homboch" by 51N4E has been a contemporary key reference in terms of scale and approach since it preserves the existing buildings and renews the characteristics of the garden city.
SITE:
The project defines volumetric and typological guidelines to densify the area without demolishing. To further develop these guidelines, it is fundamental to create an open collaboration with all the actors involved (the municipality, developers, current residents and future users). These discussions will help to achieve feasibility in the project and to build a sustainable and welcoming living environment in which all present and future inhabitants feel at home. Another advantage of the project is the possibility of being developed in different phases without losing its value.
REFERENCES:
Alessandro worked with both Laura and Lorenzo and decided to create a team since the past collaborations were positive and inspiring. The scale of the site and the brief of the competition resonate with our academic experience and the professional project that we already developed.
6. How could this prize help you in your professional career?
The Europan prize is indeed one of the most important and recognised prizes a young professional can aim to win. It could help us in our professional careers by giving us visibility and the opportunity to build our winning project. The dialogue with the municipality and the construction process would be a great experience and could be the first step to starting our practice.
TEAM IDENTITY
Legal status:
Team name:
Average age of the associates: 27 years old
Has your team, together or separately, already conceived or implemented some projects and/or won any competition? if so, which ones?
We already worked together on other international competitions:
- Re-use the Roman Ruin, Bacoli 2020 (winner project, 2nd prize). Alessandro de Cadilhac and Lorenzo Gaveglio (https://www.reuseitaly.com/competitions/reuse-the-roman-ruin-piscina-mirabilis/)
- Renovation of the Real Academia de España 2022, Rome. Alessandro de Cadilhac and Laura Izzo (in collabaration with FIRM Architects, B720, Alberto Izzo and Partners, and Ruben Ortega).
- Europan 16 Bitonto (IT) Alessandro de Cadilhac and Lorenzo Gaveglio
- Europan 16 Almendralejo (ES) Laura Izzo
Alessandro was awarded in other international competitions:
- Park in Banja Luka 2021 (winner project, 3rd prize)
- Installation for MOMO Festival, Rotterdam 2020 (winner project, 1st prize) He conceived projects in Rome including the renovation of two apartments in Trastevere.
Laura has conceived several projects in Spain with other colleagues (https://firm-arch.com). Among these are two single-family houses made out of CLT.
Lorenzo was awarded in RESIDE Mumbai Mixed Housing competition, Director’s Choice Award.
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