projects | Viabizzuno progettiamo la luce

the historical milan catering brand, panino giusto, realized in milan its own academy, a space for training its staff and where to promote the food culture. the project was born to redevelop of some industrial hangars dated back to fifties; hosted inside a green area, it aims to defend and give life again, inside new functions, places that have their own story. the main feature of the pre-existing structure was the natural light coming from the covering. another interesting element, from the architectural point of view, was the perspective that runs through the building along its 42m whole length. each intervention on the structure aimed not to distort these two aspects, rather to enhance them: the perspective that crossed the space and the light that permeated it became focal points in the new architectural project. the academy contains three souls in one: it is a space for educational activities with two classrooms for teaching and refresher courses, two booths for sensorial analysis and a wide kitchen, completely furnished; it is an exhibition space, luminous and scenographic, ready for exhibitions and cultural events; it is a space that hosts the first, and so far the only one, thematic library about panino. the hall, area for cultural expositions, it is the biggest and most scenographic space and captures light from each cardinal point. a mezzanine makes it even more usable and allows an easier management of exhibitions set-ups. a ceramic texture, made of diamond-cut tiles, white and blue, to recover the colours of cathedral glasses in the facades, enhances the value of the vault that covers the 42m of the central nave and increases the natural brightness and the artificial light glare. for this space, there have been chosen some suspension light fittings, lampara, made of a splayed cylindrical body and a transparent cylindrical glass that allows the light diffusion and an extreme visive lightness in the space. to increase the flexibility of the exhibition space in the central hall, the duct ‘ai tuoi piedi’ has been used: it is a floor system that allows to arrange the electrical cables, the technological set ups and the web and acustic ones, with the greatest flexibility required in each case, including the water joints to set up the working surfaces for the chefs, also at the centre of the exhibition space. closed with the same finish as the floor, it integrates completely in the space and thanks to the slots in its cover, the duct ai tuoi piedi becomes also a tool for air conditioning. the library is to the right at the entrance, in the building with the pitched roof close to the main building where the two classrooms are placed at the center of axhibition space, and, the second, with a direct view toward the kitchen, designed in order to manage lessons and be completely productive at the same time. the library is a rigorous and cosy room, characterized by huge tables for consultation on which falls the light of barra d’oro, suspended light fitting made of anthracite varnished metal with gold oxidized aluminium optics and natural brass louvres. the choice of plain finish materials, like oak, pietra serena and white reflect essentiality, as the space shapes are essential. great attention has been paid to the light for working area in kitchen, where the suspended led bacchetta magica rhytm the double height space by illuminating the workplaces in an homogeneous way. the domotics of lighting, audio and video systems, of the motorization and temperatures, allows the control of each shadow and comfort aspect in an easy, never invasive, way.