Trailer Site Specific Architecture

Not eligible for AIA CES Credits

Site specific architecture as a way of designing, starting from a place, dialoguing and working on it, interlacing existing relationships and building new ones to transform space.

A process that develops over time, through experimentation and research, and results in specific proposals, integrating and adapting, or on the contrary proposing radical transformations.

The interpretations proposed by ARW - Architectural Research Workshop start from the interpretation of today, from the history of places, from the geography and the reasons of the landscape.

A way of creating and conceiving architecture proposed by architects Camillo Botticini and Matteo Facchinelli, founders of the ARW firm, which connects architecture and landscape in a project that is integrated into the context, a context that is not only physical and morphological, but also social and economic.

Tensions, dialogues and research that emerge in the narration of the ARW studio and the theme "Site Specific Architecture", intertwining with the organizational aspects of the architecture firm, its skills and training, its method and tools. Relationships that place the client, both public and private, as the central interlocutor, and construction quality as the final objective.

Thus a precise idea of work, highlighted by architects Botticini and Facchinelli through the projects created by ARW: from the morphological innovation proposed by Claw House to the reinterpretation of the workspace and the territory of MTC Rixheim, up to large-scale works for the city of Bergamo or the careful study of forms and functions proposed by the swimming center in Mompiano.

Works that recall central themes of the architectural project: living and the urban scale, the design of domestic space and the relationship with the city, listening to and re-interpreting renewed requests and needs. A dialectical process, which during the lesson brings up dichotomous couples: "archetypality and contemporaneity", "tectonic nature and lightness".

A way of proceeding where architecture is necessary in the transformation of space, with specific answers. Starting from interpretation and experimentation and once again putting the place at the center to imagine the future.

Educational objectives

• The lesson will highlight the theme of site specific architecture through reflections and projects
• The module will analyze in depth the different aspects of Site Specific Architecture, starting from the various issues and relationships connected to the idea of place: spatial and geographical as well as social and economic ones
• During the lesson topics connected to the design of living and large scale will be dealt with, highlighting distinguishing issues and elements
• The course, starting from ARW’s work, will propose reflections on design practice, the relationship with clients and the organization of the firm: method and tools