PRO-FOUNDATION
PLAZA DEL LAVORO INTERVENTION| TURIN, ITALY
Vertically integrated Artist Think-tank
Workshop at Politecnico di Torino, Study Abroad Semester in Italy
Instructor : Mark Visconti, Lonn Combs
Partner: Alec DuMond, Xin Yang, Sofia Sipione
Plazza de Lavoro, originally designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, resides in the south entry of the city in Trino, Italy. Addressing the program of the building gave participants of the workshops a chance to consider what it means to be sustainable from a programmatic point of view. In an attempt to create a self-sustaining program, the team looked at emerging think tank typologies. The idea was to incorporate all steps of the creative process, from design to marketing and sales, in a series of programmatic units within the existing exhibition hall.
The project “Pro-Foundation“ manifests itself in a strong circulatory back bone. The varied program units were integrated vertically among each other through different levels; they were also placed along the path where a catwalk was designed to be elevated to serve as a secondary circulation. The open space remains the foundation of the old exhibition welcoming atomosophere and the intimate closed structures let the artists and visitors intervent a long-lasting and profound relationship.
