Wēijī

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Federico Sforzi

Handledare/ Ori Merom, Charlie Gullström Hughes

Supervisor

Examinator/ Per Franson Examiner

Examensarbete inom arkitektur, avancerad nivå 30 hp Degree Project in Architecture, Second Level 30 credits

8 juni 2017

Wēijī - When Wounds

Become Opportunities

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When Wounds Become Opportunities Federico Sforzi

Studio 4

Ori Merom

Charlie Gullström Hughes

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Posters

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The Town

Amatrice is the subject of the project.

Th e small Italian village located in the Apennines, 150 km north from Rome, lived the 24th August 2016 one of the most terrible moment in its entire history: a dreadful earthquake of magnitude 6.0 M hit the town destroying the entire historical centre and leaving 300 of its 2600 inhabitants under the rubble of the collapsed buildings. Th e following months have seen an attempt to face the emergency by providing the fi rst aid and services to the wounded population, but major questions are still unanswered: what is the future of Amatrice and its inhabitants?

What will remain of the city after the tremendous catastrophe? What will be changed?

Th e project tries to give an answer to these questions refl ecting upon the role of architecture in situation of catastrophic events.

What can architecture do after a catastrophe?

Which is its role in the process of reconstruction?

How to rebuild a city completely wiped out by the catastrophe?

What to keep?

What to give back?

What to add?

What to erase?

Th e project started by considering the fi rst reaction to a seismic event:

when an earthquake occurs people pour out in the streets because sud- denly the house is not a safe shelter anymore, but a mass that can fall over someone’s head. Th e open spaces instead, streets and squares, become gathering points and potential safe places where people feel secure wait- ing for the seismic activity to stop. Th e problem with Amatrice was that the very narrow streets and the lack of open spaces within the old town contributed to its destruction and to many deaths: several buildings, in fact, collapsed against each other.

Th e concept that guided the urban plan was the increase of the ratio between the open and the close spaces. However, this approach did not want to compromise and overturn the atmosphere that marked the town before. To avoid it, great importance was given to the street and its preservation, with its proportions and the space it creates. In fact, the sequence between this urban element and the open spaces creates the dy- namism and the charming atmosphere that characterizes Italian villages.

Th e street as part of the identity of the town needs to be preserve.

Th e actual norms for constructions in seismic areas prescribe to keep a minimum distance between the buildings equal to the height of the tall- est one. If followed this prescription will completely overturn the image of the town with big avenues surrounded by short buildings. From here, the decision to develop a technical system that maintains the streets as it is preventing this unfortunate scenario from happening. Th e system will be better explained later. Th e design of the urban plan follows few simple steps: starting from the already well defi ned urban structure made of cardus and decumanus and the central core of the main square, the idea is to provide every of the 4 sectors in which the town has been so divided with a main open space, a piazza. Th e three monasteries on the perimeter of the town are the only buildings to be rebuilt with the philosophy “how it was, where it was” and the clear and effi cient street grid and consequent divisions of urban block will be preserved as prevalent part of the image of the city.

The Piazza

Inside the new urban plan, the public squares gain a new particular meaning. In strong contrast in terms of dimensions, space and atmosphere, with the numerous narrow streets, they not only carry out a social function as places for interaction and communal life, but also a practical one: due to their size they become the main meeting points and the safe gathering places where people can reunite and face the emergency together. In fact, in the unfortunate case of an emergency it becomes highly important to avoid the fragment of the community: the individu- al should always be able to count on the help of the others. From here it came the decision to design the new public buildings of the town around the piazzas, so they can provide a common place to stay and the fi rst aid to the wounded population: accommodation, water and food supply, hygiene facilities, basic medical and social assistance.

Moreover, the squares and the public buildings, as main urban centralities, generates a polycentric urban structure that activates diff erent parts of the town and guarantees the survival of Amatrice as an active living place and avoid its transformation into a mere touristic attraction, a phe- nomenon that is unfortunately aff ecting more and more Italian historical cities nowadays. Here instead I designed the centralities for a new urban development: civic institutions like the town hall and the civic hall, reli- gious places like the church and the monasteries, the market, the school, cultural buildings like the theatre, the civic museum and the library. Th e attention and the space given to public use refl ects the will to subordi- nate the interests of the private to the ones of the community as it always used to be since the Communes’ era.

Finally, the use of the existing street grid provides a clear and fast connection to and between all the public piazzas. Wherever you are within the strict structure of the town center it is easy to rapidly get to a safe place.

The Block

In contrast with the increase of public spaces there is a clear defi nition of private property. Th e perimeter line of the block marks the passage between the public and the private space: while outside the communal life takes over, inside it leaves the place for a domestic dimension.

Th erefore, following the concept the block presents two diff erent char- acters: one urban, severe and stiff , where the facades have openings with all similar dimensions, all aligned to perform better in a seismic event, and one private, more open and heterogeneous, towards the backyard.

Preserving the section of the street brought to the development of a very strong structural system that prevents the building from collapsing into the streets and contributes to create safer public areas: a 10m-high con- tinuous wall made of reinforced concrete represents the main structure to which a secondary, lighter structure of light concrete and wood is con- nected. Th e height of the wall has been decided according to the average height of the buildings before the catastrophe.

Following an analysis that found many buildings to be modular of 4m, the same module has been applied for the design of the wall. Th is pattern is then refl ected in the organization of the new block and the new city.

Modularity, symmetry, alignments are precious elements in seismic re- sistant design and they have been applied without compromising the diversity of the buildings’ facades and what this diversity can communicate about the use of the space behind. Th e module, in fact, allows not only the use of diff erent openings but also diff erent materials for the fi nishing layer, ranging from plaster, to brick, to stone.

Within the block the design was guided by the respect of the previous building typology: 2-3 storeys-high town houses developed along the short side of the block. Th e division of the plot tries to produce the same number of properties as before, but this time the urban tissue is not as dense to lower the risk of collapse. Every house has now a private backyard with a direct access to the street. Ownership will remain the same and owners will be refunded for the space that once was built and now is precious to keep open. Th e pitched roof has become a shed roof that contributes to stabilize the main structure by anchoring the street wall to its foundations.

The House

Th e new houses refl ect the former building typology. Town houses developed as modular buildings 2-3 storeys-high, they can easily accommodate a family of 5 persons. Units can be arranged and attached together in order to increase their seismic resistance. Th e building taken in exam is composed by two units and is the result of three modules of 4 meters combined together.

Following a concept renowned since the Incan era and later developed during the 18th century in the so called Casa Baraccata, the design opted for a square layout, ideal for stability due to its perfect symmetry that better contains deformation and produces a more harmonic movement.

Th e ground fl oor of the building hosts all the living spaces and it is com- municating with the garden thanks to very big openings. Th e fi rst fl oor, instead, accommodates the bedrooms, while the top fl oor is character- ized by a big outdoor terrace.

In the technical section it is possible to appreciate the construction tech- nique chosen for the main structure: the reinforced concrete wall and the entire building is detached from the ground and is fl oating over a series of pillars mounting base-isolation units, soft devices that allow the building to move independently reducing the ground acceleration and the possible deformation of the building. Th e resultant underground space is accessible for maintenance and it is used as compartment for all pipes and tubes that constitute the technical systems (water, heating, electricity, internet and telephone connection, air circulation, garbage management). Finally, all this technical side that actually makes the town a functional organism does not compromise the starting point of the design: the street, preserved intact and still able to accommodate the fl ourishing city life that makes this and all the similar places alive.

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Research

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Model

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The Town

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Top Top Right Bottom Right

Aerial view of Amatrice before the earthquake

Solids and voids analysis of the previous urban structure

Relation between the new and the old urban layout

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Top Bottom

Top Right Top Left

Bottom Right Bottom left

Pictures of the streets before the earthquake

Pictures of the squares before the earthquake

Diagram of the Diagrams showing how the street would change with the application of the norms

Study of the sections of the old streets Study of the dimensions of the old squares

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Urban structure Piazzas Streets Blocks Monuments

I II III IV V

Th e strategy starts by keeping the already well defi ned urban structure made of cardus and decumanus and the main piazza at their convergence.

Each one of the 4 sectors in which the town has been so divided is provided with a piazza as main meeting point and safe place.

Th e clear and already well functioning strict street grid originated by the cardus and decumanus is preserved.

Filling the voids generated by the street grid, the new blocks will help to restore the distinctive image of the old urban tissue.

Th e three old monasteries are the only buildings to be rebuilt with the philosophy “how it was, where it was”. Th ey redifi ne the perimeter of the old town.

Urban Strategy

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The Piazza

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Top Top Right

Top Left Top Right

Bottom Right

Picture from a piazza in Siracusa, Sicily

Screen from the movie Miracolo a Milano (1951)

Conceptual diagram of public buildings gathered around the piazza Diagram of the diff erent spaces created by the street and the piazza

Conceptual diagram of the connection to the piazza

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Museum

Area: 615 sqm Capacity: 88 people

Theatre

Civic Hall

Town Hall

Area: 1580 sqm Capacity: 225 people 1.

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Church

School

Library

Market

Map of the location and the accessibility to all piazzas and the public buildings

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Town Hall

Museum

Civic Hall

Th eatre

Market

School

Church

Library 1

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3

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The Block

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Dimensional analysis of the previous urban stock resulting in the discovery of many buildings being modular of 4m.

Th e wall from the structure to its materiality

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Section of neighbouring blocks and the resulting street

Diagrams explaining the concepts behind the design of the block Th e division of the block in

diff erent properties follows the former division in long plots.

Ownership of the land remains the intact. Owners are refunded in the case of the lost or reduced properties.

Every unit has a private backyard with direct accessibility to the street.

Th e typology of the town house is kept but readapted to the new context.

Th e shed roof helps to stabilize the main structure, anchoring the wall to the foundations.

Top

Bottom

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Back facade Urban facade

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The House

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Pictures of the Casa Baraccata

Typical houses in the historical centre of Amatrice before the earthquake

Incan Kancha and diagram showing its layout

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Top Right

Bottom Right

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Ground fl oor plan of the house and the private garden

Perspective section showing the street and the construction detail of the wall Siteplan and location of the studied house

Top Left

Bottom Left

Right

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Sketches

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