2018 GREEN VILLAGE IN FLORENCE

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.