Re-writing Modern Buildings

Conservative Transformation of Convitto and Regeneration of Società Umanitaria

Thesis title:
RE-WRITING MODERN BUILDINGS. Conservative Transformation of Convitto and Regeneration of Società Umanitaria

Date of discussion:
15 December 2020

Students:
Ece Oner, Martina Marino

Supervisor
Giulio Massimo Barazzetta

Professors of the Studio
Giulio Massimo Barazzetta (Architectural Design)
Rossana Gabaglio (Architectural Preservation)
Angela Silvia Pavesi (Technology and Design in BIM Environment)
Mauro E. Giuliani (Structural Design )
Luca A. Piterà (Building Services Design)
Lucia Toniolo (Materials for Preservations)

Abstract:

Our built environment is in a constant change as the contemporary cities evolve continuously. The population growth, social and economic dynamics could have a substantial impact on the way we design and our approach to the buildings. Even if future scenarios for the built environment are on an urge to develop by additions, there is also a conservative approach of restoration, along with conversions, and extensions to the original building.
Milan’s population increases day by day and it is one of the highly populated cities of Italy, and the most populated city in the Lombardy region. The population growth, brings the need of new designs to accommodate people, or the need of adaptive reuse to bring the abandoned buildings into life, as many buildings in the city suffers from being vacant silent and neglected.
In order to save money and time and bring the existing abandoned buildings to proper use, “rethinking of the existing” is becoming a significant topic in architecture.
With the light of these issues, the project explained in this thesis considers requalification of a given urban block, in the city of Milan, by transforming existing buildings and spaces into a multifunctional complex that serves to the community as a social housing unit with several public services.