Nazario Sauro, Baranzate (Milano), Lombardy, Italy, 2020.
Thinking about the modifying action the leftover building generates on its surroundings, the place itself can be read as the starting point for the propagation of an ever-changing message that spreads in the city.
"Reverberate" is the concept that generates the project of re-activation of the church and kiosk in Baranzate.
To reverberate the memory of the buildings, the old actions that brought it to life, and the new functions that will breathe it back to it.
The intervention designed for the two small buildings aims to find places of expression for the community. For this reason, the interaction between people and spaces is fundamental for the project to be complete and to be revealed in its totality.
Each spot has been given inputs that society can react to in countless ways. It is precisely this purpose of the project that those who are now in a stalemate and are considered Leftovers will instead trigger a reaction in people that makes them reverberate and change depending on the different interactions.
The kiosk - Source
The space of the kiosk has been designed to enhance the particular octagonal plan that characterizes it. The purpose was to create a building that is integrated with its surroundings. The idea was to turn this space into a Source of Opinion for the city, a collector of thoughts that want to be heard.
Entering you are like immersed in a large tub: the void dominates it, but the pre-existence remains tangible thanks to the mirrors that break the waves of light on the floor by distorting the lines drawn on it. The leftover affects the structure without being noticed, as the reverb that hides and does not appear despite it is present.
The Source expands metaphorically through the opinions of people: it propagates in an intangible way through sounds and recordings, which create an interaction between people, an invisible thread that unites users and binds them with each other.
The path - Colonnade
An ideal grid of columns placed in the centre of Baranzate: this is the path that unites the two Leftovers, connects them and collects the actions of people and their reactions. The columns invade the outdoor space, they have a materiality that gives a hint of the Workshop set in the church and a more modern side that alludes to the Source. Users can interact with these installations in the way they prefer, creating ideal bounces between them. At night the path turns on and becomes almost impalpable: LED strips reverberate the light that is captured during the day and increase the visibility creating a connection between the elements of the project.
Church - Workshop
The intervention carried out on the little church of Baranzate aims to make this place, now devoid of utility, a nerve center of the town.
To find the most suitable new function, the interior and exterior of the building were studied, to preserve as much as possible the pre-existence and make it reverberate in the new activity.
The transformation of the church into a Workshop was carried out with the aim of maintaining the characterization of a place of worship in which to perform a ritual, a place of meeting and teaching.
The workshop wants to transmit values and knowledge about the art of ceramics and teach people another way of expressing themselves, through matter rather than words. The height of the ceiling and the large presence of natural light from the windows are particularly favourable characteristics to adapt the building to its new purpose.
Once entered, you are immersed in the environment and the view is channelled to the altar from the work stations on the sides, allusive to the typical benches of the church. Each station has a lift supported by steel rods, which recalls the Matroneum, it will be useful for drying ceramics.
The platforms can in fact be managed from the bottom according to a pulley system and will therefore be mobile; their vertical sliding will allow users to take advantage of natural light to dry ceramics by not making it necessary to use any artificial processes. In the apse of the Workshop will be placed the workstation of the master ceramist will be placed where the altar used to be.
