A contextually placed duo built in the historic centre of Turin

Mindful of the existing morphological urban texture and averse to cheap imitations, 'Twins' slips into the urban fabric of the old centre of Turin. The site, once shut away from the rest of the city, has been reactivated with the addition of housing and housing-supportive public amenities including a bank and a bar plus restaurant.

la città (city)
The project enters into dialogue with the city. The simplicity of the designed building is to invest the potentials tucked away on and around the site with new meaning, the aim being to draw this unique part of Turin back into daily use.

l'isolato (building block)
The intervention consists of two elongated building parts meeting at right angles in such a way that they accompany the two adjacent traffic axes and continue the block organization already on site. The orthogonal configuration encloses a traffic-calmed piazza. Cut-outs in both building parts incite a dialogue between the functions they contain and the urban surroundings. At the same time the cut-outs lock the two buildings together, making them Twins.

la casa (house)
The long building is distinguished by two bites of equal size, one taken out of a corner so that the public functions they contain are oriented to the adjoining public piazza. On the other side, the 'bite' is taken from the upper side, clearing space for a communal outdoor terrace. The succession of indoor spaces each oriented to another adjoining outdoor space makes those in and around the building aware of its omni-directionality. This is expressed in the frontage by oblong windows that take on the dimensions of the building's mass and are placed all round the volume. The floors are borne aloft by concrete portals that emphasize the building's longitudinal alignment, as can be seen in the interior.

The shorter building also has two bites taken from its volume. This time the openings differ in size. A large opening in the volume on the side of the historic centre orients the apartments to this part of the city. On the other side, the bite is taken from the underside and is smaller. The jutting mass terminating this shorter building sits well with the urban character of the traffic axis.

Place of education: TU Eindhoven | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Jos Bosman, Jacob Voorthuis, Michiel Dehaene