projects | Viabizzuno progettiamo la luce

‘sensory architecture helps us to under stand that a building is never perceived all at once, but in parts, through image sequences, along revealing paths.’ (marco belpoliti) the civic centre of ceggia, municipality in the province of venice, totally surrounded by the country in the final stretches of the po valley, is the site of this newly constructed commercial exhibition venue. there are no historically important presences around the open space of the square; hence, this building fills the void of via roma’s continuous curtain, establishing relations only with the square and the piavon canal, the sole undeniable presences. the architectural concept was conceived by overlapping four parallelepipeds that generate a monolithic element, which is constructed around a central hole. the only outward openings are two large windows at the two ends of an optical canal that crosses the volume on the first floor, and which overlooks the canal and the square. hence it is defined as an ‘introspective’ building that is focused more on itself than on its surrounding environment. the monolithic appearance of the exterior is underscored by basaltic stone lining, a skin that fully conceals the structure. the interior unfolds before the user along tracks that capture emotions, designed around a central patio. the principal canal of light collects the overhead rays and distributes the mellow light to the various floors, revealing the fair faced concrete structural elements. relations between natural light and artificial light are translated into an architectural rhythm; the artificial light project has been studied to highlight the structure of the building, converting the immaterial quality of light into architectural substance that emphasises the raw material of the structure. the 094 system designs light suspended sheets that harmoniously contrast with the massive power of cement: light follows the rigorous rhythm of the structural layout of the beams. the patio enhances the ‘introspective’ personality by steadily looking inwards, without ever opening outwards. the same principle applies to the garden, which is entirely occluded by a boundary wall that excludes it from all relations with the surroundings. orientation is found once again only on the first floor, at the end of the track, when the square is revealed on one side, and the canal on the other side, at the very end.