Aesthetics & performance

Michele Mole’, founder of Nemesi&Partners, tells Domus the project for the Italian Pavilion, an example of the importance of the collaboration between architects and constructors, of the dialogue between aesthetic invention and performative invention.

We met Michele Mole’, founder of Nemesi&Partners, to tell us about the project of the Italian Pavilion, comprising Palazzo Italia and temporary constructions along the Cardo.

The result is also a reflection on the theme of collaboration between architects and constructors, needed to “make culture” in the contemporary world.

Domus: What is the difference, in terms of design approach, between constructing temporary and permanent architecture?

Michele Mole’: There is a major difference, not just as regards the technology chosen – a building that must stand the test of time differs totally from one with a 6-month lifespan – but also in terms of performance. We had to comply with numerous regulations that ensure the permanent building’s sustainability but a temporary building is not subject to the same standards. Apart from the technical factors, the concept of the end result changes radically. We had to consider not only the quasi-entertainment aspect of an international exposition – the primary role of the national pavilions – but also create a permanent landmark building for the entire event that would remain an icon of the future Milan. We had to think about entertaining but also be terribly serious about something that will be part of the city and must redeem a whole neighbourhood on the outskirts of Milan.

Domus: Both projects incorporate innovative technology, especially the claddings which are key to the building’s iconic appearance. What other functions do they perform?

Michele Mole’: Firstly, I would like to stress that placing a utopian and visionary but concrete design at the core of the building system and local transformation means creating something that generates a virtuous process of innovation and experimentation. Secondly, the great challenge was clearly to produce something that fundamentally embodies aesthetic and poetic communication. We did not wish to overlook the entertainment factor, especially today when such is the speed of communication that we have no option but to keep up with it; equally, we had to build something real that performed but that would also and most importantly express the identity of the Italian community. In this sense, the work on the external fibre cement skin, achieved with the aid of Italcementi, is not just compositionally innovative – resembling a petrified urban forest – it is also an innovative concept of an osmotic organism, one that is in dialogue with the environment.

Moreover, the concrete this skin is made of, via catalytic photosynthesis, transforms smog into a saline component that maintains the surface of the material white. Most importantly of all, when placed over opaque reinforced-concrete surfaces, it becomes a ventilated screen that cools the building’s reinforced-concrete surfaces in summer and protects them against the cold in winter. When placed over glazing, it performs the key function, via carefully calculated perforations in each panel, of mediating solar irradiation directed inside the building so that the stratified facade, comprising low-emission glass and this second skin, ensures an always constant and measured energy delta in the building. This means that the weave of these panels on the fronts most exposed to the sunshine and clad with large glazed surfaces acts as a screen against excess solar energy. The aesthetic invention is, therefore, also and more importantly an invention of performance.

Domus: What will happen to the Italian Pavilion after Expo?

Michele Mole’: I can speak more of hopes than certainties on this subject. Unfortunately, Italy has once again shown its lack of foresight when having to take strategic decisions for the management of local areas. However, everyone is convinced that Expo should become a science park with a focus on innovation and, in particular, that Palazzo Italia ought to become an incubator of ideas for young people. Milan University has shown an interest, which we are following closely, in placing the new university campus in the park and transferring all its faculties to the area. We all hope that these areas will remain a space of innovation and experimentation for post-Expo Milan.

Domus: The Expo brief called for 50% of every pavilion to be open-air space and for green space to be a design feature. How were these aspects resolved in the design of the Pavilion and Palazzo Italia?

Michele Mole’: This was in the brief for the national pavilions of participating countries but did not apply to the Italian Pavilion, which instead had to built over the entire area. We tried to provide the most outside space possible, introducing roof gardens on Palazzo Italia and all the other buildings along the Cardo, as well as squares and treating outdoor public space as a founding feature, becoming a rendezvous for people. The sustainability aspect and inclusion of greenery, no percentage of which was dictated in this case, were resolved by conceiving a building not mute and oppressive towards the environment but in osmotic dialogue with it, one that does not pollute (zero emissions) and that interferes with the atmospheric agents. The significant metaphor of the forest and the tree was triggered by this basic idea which is not only poetic but practical, too. The tree with its roots extracts energy from the ground and returns it via its foliage. This really happens in the sense that Palazzo Italia draws water from the water table below, carries it to the heat pumps, passing via the air-conditioning coils and uses it – in winter (when it is warmer than the outside temperature) to provide heat and in summer (when it is colder) for cooling.

The Concrete Cooling system is a remarkable invention: in traditional systems, air is produced in central heating plants and only helps heat and cool the environment when it emerges from the pipes and enters the environment; with Concrete Cooling, on the other hand, before the air emerges into the environment to help heat/cool it, it passes through coils inside the reinforced-concrete structures and activates (mass activation) the walls and floors, which become radiators and air conditioners. In an equal performance and volume situation, this saves approximately 40% of the energy required for heating/cooling. The photovoltaic roof (foliage) produces 140 kW, approximately 70% of the building’s energy requirement. This shows that this idea of an osmotic building projects contemporary architecture towards dialogue and interaction with the environment.

Domus: How were you chosen for the project?

Michele Mole’: We won an international competition, the only one of the entire Expo, which attracted 68 projects from all over the world. Milan learnt in 2007 that it was holding the Expo. The competition was held early in 2013 and we signed the contract in May 2013. Nevertheless, I am on site nearly every week and I am sure that, despite this tragicomic context, mediocrity will not prevail. The standard of the architectural quality is extremely high and the space has a consistent urban character; it is not an amusement park.

Domus: The other pavilions availed of local partners who adapted their designs to Italian standards. I presume that the procedure went differently in this case and believe that a strong theme emerging both from Palazzo Italia and the Pavilion is the close relationship between the architects and the companies involved.

Michele Mole’: Yes but this was only possible because we contested the rules of the technical director (RUP) of the time who wanted to introduce a bidding war. We argued that, if he did so, the project would never get off the ground. We managed to convince him by accepting full responsibility to source those most capable and ready to supply the innovative features of the design. For the roof and external skin, we contacted Italian market leaders with whom we worked starting from the design phase. We then chose Italcementi, Styl-Comp and Stahlbau Pichler.

This avoided the usual and often disastrous situation of an architect shut away in the university designing but who then clashes with those who know how to do the job, creating a dramatic division between concept and construction.

Everything in Palazzo Italia, even the screws, was designed by Nemesi and 3D modelled in agreement and collaboration with the constructors. The days of creatives and constructors who do not dialogue with each other are no more.

In this sense, Palazzo Italia aims to characterize the excellence of the Italian architectural and construction culture, focused on innovation. We have an outstanding past, of which we are proud, but it is obvious that, if we want to produce culture today, we have to do so via the methods, languages and involvement of a world that has radically changed the aesthetic sense of the whole. Keeping alive forms that no longer make sense in Italy today would be mere formalism and non-productive.