With their regular silhouette, the extensions above the roof – which are those parts of the building clad with quartz-zinc – seem the product of a 3D upward extrusion, as if the material had been squeezed through a cut-out. This conveys the force of a thrust from within whereas, to adopt a more properly architectural language, this “breakthrough” in the architectural box alters the type of the pre-existing building.

As in Gordon Matta-Clark’s building cuts, and with a not really dissimilar effect, these extensions tend to unravel the building, removing it from its isolation, opening it up to its surroundings and acting on the historical and cultural identity of the pre-existing type structure.

The process that led to these extensions has also produced a certain complexity that implies an increased depth of perception. The stratification is probably more interesting than the unexpected views created and is the type of complexity that ensues from taking an otherwise totally normal, conventional and even anonymous situation and redefining it, retranslating it with multiple readings that overlap conditions past and present.

A metaphorical interpretation of this work, made by linking it to a form of theatre performance, is certainly driven by the contemporary need to assign a name to hybrid things and to the genetically modified organisms that we have ended up creating and that defy the standard identification principles. As a result, we resort to symbolic transpositions of images to describe these hybrid creatures, increasingly present on the landscape. Pierluigi Nicolin, Architect

The building in question stands on an industrial site in Via Tortona, Milan.  It is a huge warehouse split down the middle by a wall that divides it into two spaces of the same size and features, each with a span roof.

Leftover space on the lot meant the building could be extended and the project left the design and footprint of the pre-existing building unaltered, the extensions being perceived as new volumes protruding from the original warehouse: a completely new storey on top of it and a structure on the main front that forms a terrace.

The materials chosen also highlight this differentiation: the pre-existing parts are in recycled and restored exposed bricks whereas the new structures are clad with grey quartz-zinc sheet metal and opal-coloured polycarbonate sheets on the sides. All the roofs are clad with grey quartz-zinc sheet metal. The windows and doors on the sides and roof are grey-painted aluminium.

A basement level was created for garage use at -1.50 m and is accessed via a large ramp to the rear of the building. The extension of the garage to nearly all the property forms a terrace in front of the main facade, which seems to slide out of the wide openings on the entrance front. 

The ground floor of the pre-existing building has been raised to +1.50 m above the courtyard level and is flush with the large terrace, entered via a flight of steps.

The new second floor is situated at + 5.40 m and has a double pitched roof of different heights and profiles. Inside is a large open space, mainly lit from above. The quartz-zinc sheet sides feature windows of various sizes while the polycarbonate sides simply have a few openings for light. The exposed-brick sides of the pre-existing building are completely blind, as are all the parts in brick except for the large opening on the terrace. Calzoni Architetti

L’Arsenale
via Tortona 31, Milan
Architects: Calzoni Architetti – Sonia Beatrice Calzoni
Collaborator: Maurizio Bocola, Edy Gaffulli, Vincenzo Incardona
Client: La Italiana Produzioni
Impresa: Borio Mangiarotti
Area: 880 mq
Program: showroom, advertising studios, design workshops
Cost: € 1.625.000.000
Realisation: 2012–2013
Photography: Paolo Rosselli