New green-village is located in
a beautiful area, where Florence
meet the country; just twenty minutes
from the unesco city historic
center and, at the same time,
in the hearth of a incredible landscape.
Until 2010 an important silk factory,
called “Arte della seta Lisio”,
was based here in a modernist
building, built by the architectural
office “Falciani&Puccini” in 1958.
Since 2010, when the silk production
moved to another site,
the foundation “arte della seta
Lisio” is looking for the best way
to reuse the complex and give it
new life.
This project is the opportunity to
give literally new life, creating a
real neighborhood around this
important modernist builndig,
made by 24 apartments surrounded
by a beautiful 8000 sqm park.
The project provide to surround
the existing building with new
houses, spread on a single level
in the north side and on two levels
in the south side.
Starting from the client’s request
to create a sort of social/housing
complex,and considering a very
low selling price, the project development
is based on a “poor”
building construction.
Infact the chosen construction
technology is a sort of plunge in
the past, a contemporary version
of “opus reticolatum”; the building
case is made by structural walls,
with the two faces in clay and two
interior layers in structural concrete
and isolating panels.
On every roof ,a two kilowatt PV
system assures a sustainable
energy building’s life.
The relantionship with the Florence’s history,
a very hard step in every project in
this area, is approached in many ways;
first of all, as before described, the construction
technology is strictly closed to
local tradition, oriented to use of stone
called “pietra forte”.
This stone is already used on the factory’s
facades, creating an interesting
contrast between the modern volumes
and tradition.
The project provide to reuse the structural
wall as an important link with this tradition
allowing, at the same time, a great
thermal insulation.
Another important aspect inspired to local
tradition is the project’s aim to create
a volumetric identity for every house.
This goal is not so easy to reach beacasue
of the very low construction cost;
creating a volumetric movement, every
house has a two big terraces in the two
levels blocks and, in the one level blocks,
has two patio.
The historic factory is restored keeping
the very important goal to preserve
the original facades, made by
an alternation between very large
windows and walls, visible concrete
pillars and beams.
Adapting the factory spaces to residential
needs, the facades are trasformed
with the same idea, alternating
large glass surfaces with wall
surfaces, keeping visible the concrete
structure.