Projects by
ecoLogicStudio - deamicisarchitetti with porfiristudio - tamassociati - Iosa Ghini Associati

curated by Luca Molinari and Simona Galateo

FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti and Iris Ceramica’s SpazioFMG per l’Architettura opens its packed calendar of events for 2010 with the COSTRUIRE SECONDO NATURA (CONSTRUCTION AS NATURE INTENDED) exhibition. The FMG Gallery, which has been hosting contemporary architecture exhibitions curated by Luca Molinari since 2007, reopens its doors to the public with a fresh look, in terms of both appearance – with a completely new images, designed to display all the potential of the new Iris and FMG coverings, including the ACTIVE Clean Air & Antibacterial Ceramic™ active slabs – and the contents on show. From this year, SpazioFMG per l’Architettura will also be featuring interior design.

From 16th to March to 2nd April, the focus at the gallery at via Bergognone 27 is on COSTRUIRE SECONDO NATURA, an exhibition curated by Luca Molinari and Simona Galateo which will be presenting projects by four Italian architecture firms that have made a name for themselves in the eco-sustainable sector: ecoLogicStudio, deamicisarchitetti with porfiristudio, tamassociati and Iosa Ghini Associati.

Continuing the dialogue begun by New Urban Ecologies (SpazioFMG per l’Architettura - May 2008) the COSTRUIRE SECONDO NATURA exhibition returns to a topic very dear to Iris and FMG: eco-sustainability, active as well as passive. “Construction as nature intended” has always been the key concept at the heart of all the Group’s production and activities, and the exhibition is intended to provide an opportunity for reflection on the different ways architecture can function in and for the environment around us, but especially for humankind itself, starting from the works it creates.

“The concepts of nature, landscape and the environment presuppose human intervention, since over the centuries people have modified, altered and transformed the world around them. Today, as never before, every change or transformation has to be designed on the principle of sustainability, to protect and conserve the environment and its specific characteristics. For contemporary mankind, “CONSTRUCTION AS NATURE INTENDED” represents the opportunity to invent new formulae and new methods for improving quality of life and effectively integrating lifestyles with the new processes that are delivering growth and changing our environment”, comment the curators Luca Molinari and Simona Galateo.

The projects on show by ecoLogicStudio, deamicisarchitetti with porfiristudio, tamassociati and Iosa Ghini Associati illustrate four different, concrete approaches to architectural design in four specific contexts, four innovative, interesting contemporary ways of looking at architecture and its fundamental role in transforming and managing the environment:

The Light Wall House by ecoLogicStudio is a private home in Turin with an innovative, sophisticated system applied to the walls: spiral cavities set into the walls act as a filter with the external environment and allow light and temperature levels to be adapted to requirements.

The "People Mover" designed by Iosa Ghini Associati is a monorail shuttle that will carry passengers from Bologna airport straight to the city’s main railway station. It is a long environment-friendly strip with solar power panels and areas of grass and plants to balance its impact on its surroundings.

The Value Partners Headquarters by deamicisarchitetti and porfiristudio is a former industrial building in the city of Milan converted to use as offices and conceived and realised throughout with sustainable energy production and consumption systems.

The "Container" project by tamassociati in Sudan was created to allow recycling and reuse of the large number of containers parked around the Emergency NGO's Salam Centre construction site by using them to provide accommodation for the medical staff employed at the centre.

THE FIRMS IN THE EXHIBITION

ecoLogicStudio
Founded in London in 2004 by the Italians Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, the firm’s focus is on the development and application of a design method capable of exploring the latest innovations in the field of digital research and design. In its work, it uses digital technologies as a mean of developing hyper-realities, systems of exchange between the natural and the artificial. Eco-sustainability is seen as a generative force, capable of rewriting the paradigms of home design and improving the environment. The firm’s latest projects are the NSCopse House at Haslemere (West Sussex), ROOFscape at Carugate (Milan), and the FunCloud pavilion displayed in Turin at the Advanced Architecture Settimo Tokyo Biennale 2009-2011.

deamicisarchitetti
The firm dates from 2005. Founded by Giacomo De Amicis, it brings the independent experience of its members together in a more structured form. It works in architecture and urban development, with a focus on understanding and adding value to the context and enhancing the programmatic and functional essence of the element at the centre of the project. Its latest projects are the “Casa nel villeto” at Gropello, the “Casa di mezza montagna” at Borgiallo, and the WTO headquarters in Geneva.

tamassociati
The firm originated in Venice as an experimental architecture group which came together from the '80s as part of the Utopica European Architects Network. It has been functioning as a firm since 1989. tamassociati is a collective project that brings together professionals who work in the fields of architecture, town planning, design and landscape architecture, leading participatory and educational processes, graphics and communication. It adheres to the principles of ethical, socially responsible design. The firm’s latest works are “La mia Casa” at Musile di Piave (Venice), “Il giardino degli alberi” at Grizzana Morandi (Bologna), play sculptures for Emergency’s paediatrics clinic at Bangui (Central African Republic) and the Administrative Offices of the Banca Popolare Etica at Padua.

Iosa Ghini Associati
The firm has been active in interior design and architecture since 1986, handling the entire process from marketing research to the design concept, technical development, prototyping, corporate image and communications. The firm has produced interior design identity projects for Ferrari, Maserati, Superga, Omnitel and Alitalia. Its latest works include the Boscolo Palace in Budapest, Boscolo Group, Exedra in Nice, the Kiko Store in Bologna, the Domodinamica Pluff chair and the Cyprus Full Circle for the Republic of Cyprus.

SpazioFMG per l’Architettura
Via Bergognone 27, Milan
12th March – 3rd April 2010
Tuesday – Saturday 3.00 – 8.00 pm
No Entrance Charge
Information: +39 02 89410320