ITALIAN
FASHION
HUB
Project type: Offices
Location: Bologna, Italy
Client: Centergross
Project leader: Petr Obraztsov, Leandro Soares
Cost estimation: € 10.9 M excl. VAT
Surface built : 8 650 m²
Status: Competition entry
How to imagine a new monument for Italian fashion? That was the challenge put forward by the competition of rethinking the logistics center for Italian fashion industry in Bologna.
Our proposal is to create an architectural timeline one kilometer long. Rich heritage of Italian painting documented the essence of tailoring features and colours throughout different eras. Artists from Ancient Rome, Giotto, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Filippino Lippi, Ghirlandaio, Tiziano, Caravaggio, Pietro Longhi, Francesco Hayez and many others were our guides throughout the history of Italian fashion. After extensive analysis, we identified essential elements of clothing for each era from roman times till today by extracting details and colours from paintings. Then we transformed these tailoring features into gestures – set of abstract interpretations in an abstract architectural language. These interpretations create a new sequence of facades just like a fashion show of different epochs.
THE
HEAD
In the ambition to reconcile old and new, the new building in front of the architectural timeline leads towards the future. Between elegance and refinement its metallic envelope sparkles in the border of the Villa Orsini’s historical park. The main façade rises from a basin water occulting the main entrance. A sculpture ground movement guides the visitors to the heart of the building. With black concrete core, the building disappears in the shade of the large roof. Using the frame of the existing structure, the building is organized around three patios abolishing the limits between inside and outside. In order to initiate a smooth transition with other buildings, a sequence of terraces gradually steps down to the interior garden. Each terrace gives different points of view on the façade’s fashion show of the eight other buildings.
