The Monza Park conforms as a large fenced system where nature and history assume the key role: inside languages and types of buildings dating back to periods temporally distant are united by the "background" in which they are inserted. From its original function of place for the delight of royalty and farm for the sustenance of the court, the Park today is one of the major places of landscape, historical and architectural value in Europe, interest based on tourism and leisure activities to different vocations. Its foundation dates to 14 December 1805, date of the imperial decree signed by Napoleon that sanctioned the birth of the Royal Park as an extension to the complex of the Villa and the Royal Gardens made twenty years earlier on a project by Giuseppe Piermarini and commissioned by the then Governor of Milan Ferdinando d'Asburgo. Luigi Canonica was the architect responsible by Eugenio de Beauharnais, viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, for the general layout of the development of the park and for the intervention on the present architectural heritage. Within the areas acquired for the formation of the Park, in addition to the Royal Villa, there are noble architectures, such as the villas of delight Mirabello and Mirabellino, although the most substantial heritage is represented by rural buildings. After the Unification of Italy the House of Savoy acquired ownership of the monumental complex but with the assassination of King Umberto I in Monza the Park and the Royal Villa have been abandoned. Since the early 1920s the management entrusted to the Consortium formed by the Municipalities of Monza and Milan and the Società Umanitaria has marked the beginning of a series of new buildings and significant transformations of open spaces in favours of public use, like the National Circuit, inaugurated in 1922, and the realization of a golf course extended for about fifty hectares. Between 1923 and 1930 the Royal Villa and the Park were the headquarters of the International Biennial Exhibitions of Decorative and Modern Industrial Arts, which later became Triennial and moved to Milan. On the fourth and final exhibition the Royal Gardens took on a fundamental role as a place for the construction of three temporary pavilions that proposed three prototypes of houses removed at the end of the event. In the 50s, the Park was interested by the expansion of the existing architectural and sports structures to increase the services offered and the potential attractiveness. In this period was authorized the construction of the RAI Control Centre, an isolated building of modern character, commissioned by the Italian broadcasting organization to replace the previous headquarters located in Sesto Calende. The absence of obstacles for the propagation of waves, the possibility of a large area for the installation of technological structures and the current ban on building, made the Monza Park the ideal place for the placement of this structure. The building is inserted in the Monza Park as an unprecedented episode compared to the historical buildings existing around it but also regarding the modern infrastructure of the same period. The original project by Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli conforms to all effects a pavilion, a symbolic construction, "control machine" semantically related to its contextual "background". The definition of pavilion buildings is very articulated because this specific architectural typology has taken on various roles and forms throughout history up to the modern and contemporary period. Pavilion structures for being distinct artifacts and usually immersed in open space could be considered as an integral part of the background when compared to an urban building. But on the contrary, the genealogy of modern and contemporary clowns, influenced by the experiments of the exhibition structures of the twentieth century, represents real figures that stand out in the background. The use of the transparency of the envelope surfaces in these architectures and the consequent loss of a clear boundary between inside and outside, however, makes even more articulated the attribution of meaning to what is background compared to what is figure. The open space where the architecture is located becomes an integral part of the design result, so much to condition the uses and require any subsequent changes of the whole with respect to its contextual condition in the landscape. The Control Centre consists of an open circular half-crown body and a square-shaped body, adhering to the convex back of the first. The intersection of these two volumes is marked by a tower with a circular plan, a transposition on a larger scale of a "tuning knob" for the regulation of old radios. In plan the curvilinear body is built geometrically by two semi circumferences that have rays of different sizes and that connect at the central entrance atrium. Access to the building is further emphasized by a metal canopy and an external staircase. Although the formal result of the building was intended to be a clear reference to the appearance of a parabolic antenna, it was not intended to break the balance of the landscape system in which it was introduced but to enter direct dialogue with its environmental peculiarities. Compared to the first perspective views designed by Gio Ponti, which showed a glazed architecture in all its faces with respect to the Park, the final project remained true to this hypothesis only on its main facade to the east. This is characterized by a system of aluminium windows with vertical panels with transparent glass to ensure the lighting of the rooms and relate to the landscape of the Park. The main floor is divided into a raised elevation from the ground and the distribution takes place along a central corridor also resumed in the basement. In the design of the building a fundamental theme was that of the study of furniture, plant and technological equipment. Gio Ponti has manifested in his works a clear desire to merge the disciplines of the project until reaching a condition of perfect interrelation. His architectural hybridizations define situations where the result is a combination of space, structure, furniture and objects. The value of the detail and the importance of the study of the technological-constructive aspects are the methodological principles at the base of his work. Compared to the original construction, the changes of the Rai Control Centre over the years have been minimal compared to the overall conception of the architectural artifact and its value. The changes that have been implemented during the period of activity of the building are linked to the evolution of the role of the Control Centre and, therefore, to the history of radio and television. The building remained in operation until July 2018 when Rai Way decided to terminate the contract with the Royal Villa and Park of Monza Consortium. Proposals to prevent the decommissioning of the building were immediately put forward without ever having a concretization. No results were obtained even after the May 16, 2019, for the concession of the former Centro Rai, encouraging a social and public destination for the building. The management without maintenance shares, after the abandonment of the company Rai, has led to a material deterioration of the building and the need for an architectural recovery based on the verification of compatibility between available space and reuse. The intervention for the recovery of modern architecture must be oriented towards an active synthesis between recognition and protection of the work, which aims to return a usability and a reaction to the condition of abandonment of the artifact. The outcome of the recovery operation is to pass on the legacy of the best design responses of the twentieth century. It is therefore necessary to reflect on the need to renew the role of an architecture in meeting the needs of contemporary society, considering how design action can be a valid operational tool for the purpose of protection. The intervention must consider the new performance standards and the feasibility of the intended use selected, in a process that lies between conservation and lawful modification. In this complex process the project must develop considering the different scales of study between identity and innovation, working on transformative opportunities, the effect of these on the entire environmental system in which the architecture and the intrinsic social aspects are inserted. No intervention without a critical basis is allowed. They must be evident, distinguishable, in harmony with the pre-existing material; similarly, the additions must be recognizable also at the scale of detail paying attention to the characteristics of the materials introduced. Based on these assumptions, it is noted that the current disjunction between form and function has not changed the identity of the original project of the studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli, although all the furniture that were an integral part of the ideation of the organism as "total work of art". Its location in a unique and stratified environment such as that of the Monza Park implies a reflection on the balance between conservative actions and modifications for the need for an adequate re-functionalization, suitable and in close relationship with the naturalistic reality of the place and the criteria of a continuous fruition. The choice of the new destination of the former Control Centre as a hotel type accommodation seems the most appropriate among those possible. The local tourist attendance, attracted by the presence of multiple points of interest such as the complex of the Villa and the Royal Gardens and the National Circuit, and events organized in the Park during the year, the particular location of the building surrounded by nature support this hypothesis. The representative elements for the reading and recognition of the value of the building are affected by a substantially conservative action to confirm the overall identity of the building. The interventions that concern the actions of remaking/ replacement are due to the state of deterioration of some components, considering the new performance standards, accessibility and safety for the reactivation of the building. The project involves the integration of the original composition with the insertion of a new body in the basement line, inserted behind the cubic volume, which affirms itself as an element of mediation between pre-existence, need to expand the endowment of available spaces, landscape values of the contextual background. Starting from the constitutive geometry of the artifact, the introduced modification proposes a new relationship with the site by means of an excavation that puts in dialogue the new volume with the two pre-existing volumes at a lower altitude than the current soil. This allows the perception of architectural addition to be de-energized with respect to the composition studied by Ponti, without making it mimetic. The balance of the new built set works on the ground attack of the addition whose limited protrusion from the ground, combined with the excavation, assimilates it to a kind of tool for reading the background, a "filter element" for a gradual transition between the original pavilion and around the green. The new functional distribution includes the main entrances and the hall in the basement of the secondary volume of the former Control Center, reachable through a driveway and a parallel staircase. The entrance environment conforms as a sorting node between the different routes and services of the accommodation building and allows access control by the reception staff. In the basement of curvilinear portion of the modern building there are several rooms for collective use for guests and service for the operation of the hotel. The room area covers the entire mezzanine floor of the building. The articulation of this floor is modified because the displacement of the distribution corridor along the perimeter wall convex west ensures a view of all the rooms along the glass perimeter of the east front, open to the Park and a suitable depth to organize in a regular manner the bathrooms of the rooms in the middle strip next to the entrances. In the added body the larger area is reserved for the dining room with a capacity of fifty diners. The remaining portion of the building houses the kitchen and the service spaces for the performance of the catering service. The interventions on the existing building mainly concern the rearrangement of the rooms and the adaptation of the distribution to new uses providing for the renovation of the interior fittings and systems. The insertion of the new staircase follows the placement of the original structure, dictated by two existing load-bearing partitions, but introduces a necessary redesign of the ramps to connect the new elevation levels facing the hall. In front of the staircase system is inserted the lift that is placed centrally with respect to the planimetric articulation of the building, in correspondence with the original entrance hall of the curvilinear body as a partially transparent element between the travel areas and the collective living-relaxation area. As for the added volume, the elevation is studied starting from the principles of modular rhythmicity and depth of a grid system, formed by horizontal and vertical prefabricated elements applied to the casing of the body of the factory. The repetition through a simple and constant rhythm determines an effect of light and shade depth of the facade, which enriches the space circumscribed by the simple and plastic volumes of the Ponti project. The choice of this composition is in harmony with the place and helps to define the character of the new entrance area outside the building.
Il Parco di Monza si conforma come un grande sistema recintato dove la natura e la storia assumono il ruolo principale: al suo interno linguaggi e tipologie di edifici risalenti a periodi temporalmente lontani sono accomunati dallo “sfondo” in cui sono inseriti. Dalla sua originaria funzione di luogo per il diletto dei reali e azienda agricola per il sostentamento della corte, il Parco oggi è uno dei maggiori luoghi di valore paesaggistico, storico e architettonico europeo, polo d’interesse fondato sull’attività turistica e del tempo libero a diverse vocazioni. La sua fondazione risale al 14 dicembre 1805, data del decreto imperiale firmato da Napoleone che sanciva la nascita del Parco Reale come un’estensione al complesso della Villa e dei Giardini Reali, realizzati vent’anni prima su progetto di Giuseppe Piermarini e commissionati dall’allora Governatore di Milano Ferdinando d’Asburgo. Luigi Canonica è stato l’architetto incaricato da Eugenio de Beauharnais, viceré del Regno d’Italia, per la generale impostazione dell’impianto di sviluppo del parco e per l’intervento sul patrimonio architettonico presente. All’interno delle aree acquisite per la formazione del Parco, oltre alla Villa Reale, sono presenti architetture nobiliari, come le ville di delizia Mirabello e Mirabellino, anche se il patrimonio più consistente è rappresentato dagli edifici rurali. Dopo l’Unità d’Italia, Casa Savoia acquisiva la proprietà del complesso monumentale, ma con l’assassinio del re Umberto I a Monza il Parco e la Villa Reale sarebbero stati abbandonati. Dall’inizio degli anni ’20 del Novecento la gestione affidata al Consorzio formato dai Comuni di Monza e Milano e dalla Società Umanitaria ha segnato l’avvio di una serie di nuove costruzioni e notevoli trasformazioni degli spazi aperti a favore della fruizione pubblica, come l’Autodromo Nazionale, inaugurato nel 1922, e la realizzazione di un campo da golf, esteso per circa cinquanta ettari. Tra il 1923 e il 1930 la Villa Reale e il Parco sono stati la sede delle Esposizioni Biennali Internazionali delle Arti Decorative e Industriali Moderne, successivamente divenute Triennali e trasferite a Milano. In occasione della IV ed ultima esposizione i Giardini Reali assumevano un ruolo fondamentale come luogo per la costruzione di tre padiglioni temporanei che proponevano tre prototipi di abitazioni, rimossi a fine evento. Negli anni ’50 il Parco è stato interessato da interventi di ampliamento delle strutture architettoniche e sportive esistenti per aumentare i servizi offerti e il potenziale attrattivo. In questo periodo veniva autorizzata la costruzione del Centro di Controllo RAI, un edificio isolato di carattere moderno, commissionato dall’ente radiotelevisivo italiano in sostituzione della precedente sede situata a Sesto Calende. L’assenza di ostacoli per la propagazione delle onde, la possibilità di un’area vasta per l’installazione di strutture tecnologiche e il divieto vigente di costruire, rendevano il Parco di Monza il luogo ideale per la collocazione di questa struttura. L’edificio è inserito nel Parco di Monza come un episodio inedito rispetto agli edifici storici preesistenti al suo intorno, ma anche riguardo alle infrastrutture moderne dello stesso periodo. Il progetto originale elaborato dallo studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli si conforma a tutti gli effetti un padiglione, una costruzione simbolica, “macchina di controllo” semanticamente relazionato al proprio “sfondo” contestuale. La definizione degli edifici a padiglione risulta molto articolata in quanto questa specifica tipologia architettonica ha assunto differenti ruoli e forme nel corso della storia fino al periodo moderno e contemporaneo. Le strutture a padiglione per il fatto di essere manufatti distinti e solitamente immersi nello spazio aperto potrebbero essere considerate come parte integrante dello sfondo se paragonate a un edificio urbano. Ma al contrario, la genealogia dei paglioni moderni e contemporanei, influenzata dalle sperimentazioni delle strutture espositive del Novecento, rappresenta vere e proprie figure che si stagliano sullo sfondo. Il ricorso alla trasparenza delle superfici d’involucro in queste architetture e la conseguente perdita di un confine netto tra interno ed esterno rende però ancora più articolata l’attribuzione di senso a ciò che è sfondo rispetto a ciò che è figura. Lo spazio aperto dove è ubicata l’architettura diventa parte integrante del risultato progettuale configurativo, tanto da condizionarne gli usi ed esigere eventuali modificazioni successive d’insieme rispetto alla sua condizione contestuale nel paesaggio. Il Centro di Controllo risulta costituito da un corpo a semicorona circolare aperta e da un corpo a pianta quadrata, aderente alla parte posteriore convessa del primo. L’intersezione di questi due volumi è segnata da una torretta a pianta circolare, quasi una trasposizione in scala maggiore di un “pomello accordatore” per la regolazione delle vecchie radio. In pianta il corpo curvilineo è in realtà costruito geometricamente da due semicirconferenze che presentano raggi di diversa dimensione e che si raccordano in corrispondenza dell’atrio di ingresso centrale. L’accesso all’edificio è ulteriormente sottolineato da una pensilina metallica e una scala esterna. Anche se il risultato formale dell’edificio voleva essere un chiaro rimando all’aspetto di un’antenna parabolica, esso non intendeva rompere l’equilibrio del sistema paesaggistico in cui era introdotto, ma entrare in dialogo diretto con le sue peculiarità ambientali. Rispetto alle prime viste prospettiche disegnate da Gio Ponti, che mostravano un’architettura vetrata in tutti i suoi affacci rispetto al Parco, il progetto definitivo rimaneva fedele a questa ipotesi solo sulla sua facciata principale a est. Questa è caratterizzata da un sistema di infissi in alluminio a pannelli verticali con vetri trasparenti per assicurare l’illuminazione degli ambienti e relazionarsi con il paesaggio del Parco. Il piano principale si articola ad una quota rialzata dal terreno e la distribuzione avviene lungo un corridoio centrale ripreso anche nel piano seminterrato. Nella progettazione dell’edificio una tematica fondamentale è stata quella dello studio degli arredi, apparati impiantistici e tecnologici. Gio Ponti ha manifestato nelle sue opere una chiara volontà di fondere le discipline del progetto fino a giungere ad una condizione di perfetta interrelazione. Le sue ibridazioni architettoniche definiscono situazioni dove il risultato è un connubio tra spazio, struttura, arredi e oggetti. Il valore del dettaglio e l’importanza dello studio degli aspetti tecnologico-costruttivi costituiscono i principi metodologici alla base della sua opera. Rispetto alla costruzione originale i cambiamenti del Centro di Controllo Rai durante gli anni sono stati minimi rispetto alla concezione complessiva del manufatto architettonico e del suo valore. Le modifiche che sono state attuate durante il periodo di attività dell’edificio risultano strettamente collegate all’evoluzione del ruolo del Centro di Controllo e, dunque, alla storia della radio e della televisione. L’edificio è rimasto in funzione fino al luglio del 2018 quando Rai Way ha deciso di cessare il contratto con il Consorzio Villa Reale e Parco di Monza. Le proposte per impedire la dismissione dell’edificio sono subito state avanzate, senza mai avere una concretizzazione. Nessun risultato si è ottenuto anche dopo il bando del 16 maggio 2019 per l’affidamento in concessione dell’ex Centro Rai, incentivando una destinazione sociale e pubblica per l’edificio. La gestione priva di azioni manutentive, dopo l’abbandono della società Rai, ha portato a un deterioramento materico del manufatto e alla necessità di un recupero architettonico basato sulla verifica di compatibilità tra spazialità disponibili e riuso per la nuova destinazione d’uso. L’intervento per il recupero dell’architettura moderna deve orientarsi verso una sintesi attiva tra riconoscimento e tutela dell’opera, che mira alla restituzione di una fruibilità e ad una reazione rispetto alla condizione di abbandono del manufatto. L’esito dell’intervento di recupero è quello di tramandare l’eredità delle risposte progettuali migliori del XX secolo. È necessario, dunque, riflettere sulla necessità di rinnovare il ruolo di una architettura nell’assolvere le esigenze poste dalla società contemporanea, considerando come l’azione progettuale possa essere un valido strumento operativo ai fini della tutela. L’intervento deve considerare le nuove norme prestazionali e la fattibilità sulla destinazione d’uso selezionata, in un processo che si pone tra conservazione e lecita modificazione. In questo processo complesso, il progetto deve svilupparsi tenendo conto delle diverse scale di studio tra identità e innovazione, operando sulle opportunità trasformative, l’effetto di queste sull’intero sistema ambientale in cui è inserita l’architettura e gli aspetti sociali intrinsechi. Non sono ammessi interventi senza fondamento critico. Essi dovranno essere evidenti, distinguibili, in sintonia con la materia preesistente; analogamente le aggiunte dovranno essere riconoscibili anche alla scala di dettaglio, ponendo attenzione alle caratteristiche dei materiali introdotti. In base a questi presupposti, si osserva che l’attuale disgiunzione tra forma e funzione non ha mutato l’identità del progetto originale dello studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli, seppure siano stati rimossi tutti gli arredi che erano parte integrante dell’ideazione dell’organismo come “opera d’arte totale”. La sua collocazione in un ambito unico e stratificato come quello del Parco di Monza implica una riflessione sul bilanciamento tra le azioni conservative e modificazioni per la necessità di una rifunzionalizzazione adeguata, idonea e in stretta relazione con la realtà naturalistica del luogo e i criteri di una fruizione continuativa. La scelta della nuova destinazione dell’ex Centro di Controllo a struttura ricettiva di tipo alberghiero appare la più opportuna tra quelle possibili. La frequentazione turistica locale, attratta dalla presenza di molteplici punti d’interesse come il complesso della Villa e i Giardini Reali e l’Autodromo Nazionale, e da eventi organizzati nel Parco durante l’anno, la particolare ubicazione dell’edificio immerso nella natura sostengono questa ipotesi. Gli elementi rappresentativi per la lettura e il riconoscimento del valore dell’edificio sono interessati da un’azione sostanzialmente conservativa con il fine di confermare l’identità complessiva del manufatto. Gli interventi che riguardano, invece, azioni di rifacimento/sostituzione sono in ragione dello stato di deterioramento di alcune componenti, considerando le nuove norme prestazionali, l’accessibilità e sicurezza per la riattivazione dell’edificio. L’azione progettuale prevede l’integrazione della composizione originaria con l’inserimento di un nuovo corpo in linea seminterrato, inserito posteriormente al volume cubico, che si afferma come elemento di mediazione tra preesistenza, necessità di ampliare la dotazione degli spazi disponibili, valori paesaggistici dello sfondo contestuale. A partire dalla geometria costitutiva del manufatto, la modifica introdotta propone una nuova relazione con il sito per mezzo di uno scavo che mette in dialogo il nuovo volume con i due volumi preesistenti ad una quota inferiore rispetto al suolo attuale. Ciò permette di depotenziare la percezione dell’addizione architettonica rispetto alla composizione studiata da Ponti, senza per questo renderla mimetica. L’equilibrio del nuovo insieme costruito lavora in particolare sull’attacco a terra dell’addizione la cui limitata sporgenza dal suolo, abbinata allo scavo, la assimila a una sorta di strumento per la lettura dello sfondo, un “elemento filtro” per un passaggio graduale tra padiglione originario e intorno a verde. La nuova distribuzione funzionale prevede gli accessi principali e la hall al piano seminterrato del volume secondario dell’ex Centro di Controllo, raggiungibili attraverso una rampa carrabile e una parallela gradinata. L’ambiente di ingresso si conforma come nodo di smistamento tra i diversi percorsi e servizi dell’edificio ricettivo e permette il controllo degli accessi da parte del personale della reception. Nella porzione curvilinea dell’edificio moderno, al piano seminterrato sono previsti diversi ambienti a destinazione collettiva per gli ospiti e di servizio per il funzionamento della struttura alberghiera. L’area destinata alle camere interessa tutto il piano rialzato dell’edificio. L’articolazione di questo piano risulta modificata in quanto lo spostamento del corridoio di distribuzione lungo la parete perimetrale convessa ovest garantisce un affaccio per tutte le camere lungo il perimetro vetrato del fronte est, aperto verso il Parco, e una profondità idonea ad organizzare in modo cadenzato i bagni delle camere nella fascia intermedia accanto agli ingressi. Nel corpo aggiunto la superficie maggiore è riservata alla sala da pranzo con una capienza di cinquanta commensali. La restante porzione del fabbricato ospita la cucina e gli spazi di servizio per lo svolgimento del servizio di ristorazione. Gli interventi sull’edificio esistente riguardano soprattutto la riarticolazione degli ambienti e l’adeguamento della distribuzione ai nuovi usi, prevedendo il rinnovamento delle finiture interne e degli impianti. L’inserimento della nuova scala segue la collocazione della struttura originale, dettata da due setti portanti esistenti, ma introduce un necessario ridisegno delle rampe per raccordare i nuovi livelli altimetrici affacciati verso la hall. Frontalmente al sistema della scala è inserito l’ascensore che risulta posto centralmente rispetto all’articolazione planimetrica dell’edificio, in corrispondenza dell’originario atrio d’ingresso del corpo curvilineo, configurandosi come un elemento parzialmente trasparente tra le zone di percorrenza e l’area collettiva soggiorno-relax. Per quanto riguarda il volume aggiunto, il prospetto è studiato a partire dai principi di ritmicità modulare e profondità di un sistema reticolato, formato da elementi prefabbricati orizzontali e verticali applicati all’involucro del corpo di fabbrica. La ripetizione attraverso un ritmo semplice e costante determina un effetto di profondità chiaroscurale della facciata, che arricchisce lo spazio circoscritto dai volumi semplici e plastici del progetto Ponti. La scelta di questa composizione si pone in armonia con il luogo e contribuisce a definire il carattere della nuova area d’ingresso all’esterno dell’edificio.
Centro di controllo Rai al Parco di Monza. Identità e progetto per il recupero dell'architettura moderna
Trapattoni, Gloria
2021/2022
Abstract
The Monza Park conforms as a large fenced system where nature and history assume the key role: inside languages and types of buildings dating back to periods temporally distant are united by the "background" in which they are inserted. From its original function of place for the delight of royalty and farm for the sustenance of the court, the Park today is one of the major places of landscape, historical and architectural value in Europe, interest based on tourism and leisure activities to different vocations. Its foundation dates to 14 December 1805, date of the imperial decree signed by Napoleon that sanctioned the birth of the Royal Park as an extension to the complex of the Villa and the Royal Gardens made twenty years earlier on a project by Giuseppe Piermarini and commissioned by the then Governor of Milan Ferdinando d'Asburgo. Luigi Canonica was the architect responsible by Eugenio de Beauharnais, viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, for the general layout of the development of the park and for the intervention on the present architectural heritage. Within the areas acquired for the formation of the Park, in addition to the Royal Villa, there are noble architectures, such as the villas of delight Mirabello and Mirabellino, although the most substantial heritage is represented by rural buildings. After the Unification of Italy the House of Savoy acquired ownership of the monumental complex but with the assassination of King Umberto I in Monza the Park and the Royal Villa have been abandoned. Since the early 1920s the management entrusted to the Consortium formed by the Municipalities of Monza and Milan and the Società Umanitaria has marked the beginning of a series of new buildings and significant transformations of open spaces in favours of public use, like the National Circuit, inaugurated in 1922, and the realization of a golf course extended for about fifty hectares. Between 1923 and 1930 the Royal Villa and the Park were the headquarters of the International Biennial Exhibitions of Decorative and Modern Industrial Arts, which later became Triennial and moved to Milan. On the fourth and final exhibition the Royal Gardens took on a fundamental role as a place for the construction of three temporary pavilions that proposed three prototypes of houses removed at the end of the event. In the 50s, the Park was interested by the expansion of the existing architectural and sports structures to increase the services offered and the potential attractiveness. In this period was authorized the construction of the RAI Control Centre, an isolated building of modern character, commissioned by the Italian broadcasting organization to replace the previous headquarters located in Sesto Calende. The absence of obstacles for the propagation of waves, the possibility of a large area for the installation of technological structures and the current ban on building, made the Monza Park the ideal place for the placement of this structure. The building is inserted in the Monza Park as an unprecedented episode compared to the historical buildings existing around it but also regarding the modern infrastructure of the same period. The original project by Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli conforms to all effects a pavilion, a symbolic construction, "control machine" semantically related to its contextual "background". The definition of pavilion buildings is very articulated because this specific architectural typology has taken on various roles and forms throughout history up to the modern and contemporary period. Pavilion structures for being distinct artifacts and usually immersed in open space could be considered as an integral part of the background when compared to an urban building. But on the contrary, the genealogy of modern and contemporary clowns, influenced by the experiments of the exhibition structures of the twentieth century, represents real figures that stand out in the background. The use of the transparency of the envelope surfaces in these architectures and the consequent loss of a clear boundary between inside and outside, however, makes even more articulated the attribution of meaning to what is background compared to what is figure. The open space where the architecture is located becomes an integral part of the design result, so much to condition the uses and require any subsequent changes of the whole with respect to its contextual condition in the landscape. The Control Centre consists of an open circular half-crown body and a square-shaped body, adhering to the convex back of the first. The intersection of these two volumes is marked by a tower with a circular plan, a transposition on a larger scale of a "tuning knob" for the regulation of old radios. In plan the curvilinear body is built geometrically by two semi circumferences that have rays of different sizes and that connect at the central entrance atrium. Access to the building is further emphasized by a metal canopy and an external staircase. Although the formal result of the building was intended to be a clear reference to the appearance of a parabolic antenna, it was not intended to break the balance of the landscape system in which it was introduced but to enter direct dialogue with its environmental peculiarities. Compared to the first perspective views designed by Gio Ponti, which showed a glazed architecture in all its faces with respect to the Park, the final project remained true to this hypothesis only on its main facade to the east. This is characterized by a system of aluminium windows with vertical panels with transparent glass to ensure the lighting of the rooms and relate to the landscape of the Park. The main floor is divided into a raised elevation from the ground and the distribution takes place along a central corridor also resumed in the basement. In the design of the building a fundamental theme was that of the study of furniture, plant and technological equipment. Gio Ponti has manifested in his works a clear desire to merge the disciplines of the project until reaching a condition of perfect interrelation. His architectural hybridizations define situations where the result is a combination of space, structure, furniture and objects. The value of the detail and the importance of the study of the technological-constructive aspects are the methodological principles at the base of his work. Compared to the original construction, the changes of the Rai Control Centre over the years have been minimal compared to the overall conception of the architectural artifact and its value. The changes that have been implemented during the period of activity of the building are linked to the evolution of the role of the Control Centre and, therefore, to the history of radio and television. The building remained in operation until July 2018 when Rai Way decided to terminate the contract with the Royal Villa and Park of Monza Consortium. Proposals to prevent the decommissioning of the building were immediately put forward without ever having a concretization. No results were obtained even after the May 16, 2019, for the concession of the former Centro Rai, encouraging a social and public destination for the building. The management without maintenance shares, after the abandonment of the company Rai, has led to a material deterioration of the building and the need for an architectural recovery based on the verification of compatibility between available space and reuse. The intervention for the recovery of modern architecture must be oriented towards an active synthesis between recognition and protection of the work, which aims to return a usability and a reaction to the condition of abandonment of the artifact. The outcome of the recovery operation is to pass on the legacy of the best design responses of the twentieth century. It is therefore necessary to reflect on the need to renew the role of an architecture in meeting the needs of contemporary society, considering how design action can be a valid operational tool for the purpose of protection. The intervention must consider the new performance standards and the feasibility of the intended use selected, in a process that lies between conservation and lawful modification. In this complex process the project must develop considering the different scales of study between identity and innovation, working on transformative opportunities, the effect of these on the entire environmental system in which the architecture and the intrinsic social aspects are inserted. No intervention without a critical basis is allowed. They must be evident, distinguishable, in harmony with the pre-existing material; similarly, the additions must be recognizable also at the scale of detail paying attention to the characteristics of the materials introduced. Based on these assumptions, it is noted that the current disjunction between form and function has not changed the identity of the original project of the studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Rosselli, although all the furniture that were an integral part of the ideation of the organism as "total work of art". Its location in a unique and stratified environment such as that of the Monza Park implies a reflection on the balance between conservative actions and modifications for the need for an adequate re-functionalization, suitable and in close relationship with the naturalistic reality of the place and the criteria of a continuous fruition. The choice of the new destination of the former Control Centre as a hotel type accommodation seems the most appropriate among those possible. The local tourist attendance, attracted by the presence of multiple points of interest such as the complex of the Villa and the Royal Gardens and the National Circuit, and events organized in the Park during the year, the particular location of the building surrounded by nature support this hypothesis. The representative elements for the reading and recognition of the value of the building are affected by a substantially conservative action to confirm the overall identity of the building. The interventions that concern the actions of remaking/ replacement are due to the state of deterioration of some components, considering the new performance standards, accessibility and safety for the reactivation of the building. The project involves the integration of the original composition with the insertion of a new body in the basement line, inserted behind the cubic volume, which affirms itself as an element of mediation between pre-existence, need to expand the endowment of available spaces, landscape values of the contextual background. Starting from the constitutive geometry of the artifact, the introduced modification proposes a new relationship with the site by means of an excavation that puts in dialogue the new volume with the two pre-existing volumes at a lower altitude than the current soil. This allows the perception of architectural addition to be de-energized with respect to the composition studied by Ponti, without making it mimetic. The balance of the new built set works on the ground attack of the addition whose limited protrusion from the ground, combined with the excavation, assimilates it to a kind of tool for reading the background, a "filter element" for a gradual transition between the original pavilion and around the green. The new functional distribution includes the main entrances and the hall in the basement of the secondary volume of the former Control Center, reachable through a driveway and a parallel staircase. The entrance environment conforms as a sorting node between the different routes and services of the accommodation building and allows access control by the reception staff. In the basement of curvilinear portion of the modern building there are several rooms for collective use for guests and service for the operation of the hotel. The room area covers the entire mezzanine floor of the building. The articulation of this floor is modified because the displacement of the distribution corridor along the perimeter wall convex west ensures a view of all the rooms along the glass perimeter of the east front, open to the Park and a suitable depth to organize in a regular manner the bathrooms of the rooms in the middle strip next to the entrances. In the added body the larger area is reserved for the dining room with a capacity of fifty diners. The remaining portion of the building houses the kitchen and the service spaces for the performance of the catering service. The interventions on the existing building mainly concern the rearrangement of the rooms and the adaptation of the distribution to new uses providing for the renovation of the interior fittings and systems. The insertion of the new staircase follows the placement of the original structure, dictated by two existing load-bearing partitions, but introduces a necessary redesign of the ramps to connect the new elevation levels facing the hall. In front of the staircase system is inserted the lift that is placed centrally with respect to the planimetric articulation of the building, in correspondence with the original entrance hall of the curvilinear body as a partially transparent element between the travel areas and the collective living-relaxation area. As for the added volume, the elevation is studied starting from the principles of modular rhythmicity and depth of a grid system, formed by horizontal and vertical prefabricated elements applied to the casing of the body of the factory. The repetition through a simple and constant rhythm determines an effect of light and shade depth of the facade, which enriches the space circumscribed by the simple and plastic volumes of the Ponti project. The choice of this composition is in harmony with the place and helps to define the character of the new entrance area outside the building.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/187361