Michele Corbolotti

Selected Works2011-2013

Center For DisabledPisa-Italy-2013

Work Ongoing

A facility for persons with physical and intellectual disabi-lities to act as an important support to families who are not able to care for them just on their own.In this sense, the project of the new center for disabled people in Pisa has been designed as a safe and secluded place, isolated from car traffic thanks to the protection of a tecnological boundary wall which closes the northern front.The building, 5,000 sqm, has been organized along a cen-tral barycentric route that cuts trough the two main wings of the complex, located on the south and the north side of the site: to the north side is mainly residential, consisting of 4 residential units that can accommodate 15 patients divided into single and double rooms; to the south there is the day center building for inpatients and outpatients.Both areas have been organized around green cloisters of different sizes, in order to recreate a natural environment, useful for occupational therapy, and at the same time fa-cilitate wellbeing.Natural light fills the interior through the many glass wal-ls arranged along the cloisters and the south side, while roof vents provide ventilation into the various areas of the building.Each user has about 55 sqm in the residential area (ro-

oms, services, leisure) and 45 sqm in the daytime (activi-ties, pool, gym).External green areas have also been provided to carry out specific activities (common open spaces for group activi-ties, small gardens for small groups, hippotherapy).

New Urban CenterFlorence-Italy-2012

Competition

High energy performances and environmental sustainabi-lity are increasingly required in architectural practice.My work regards the retrofitting of a former FIAT energy power station. In particular, adapting the building enve-lope to new functions, through the addition of new vo-lumes and technological solutions able to respond to its active and passive energy needs. The new overhanging volumes on the south side, at all levels, grant natural ligh-ting inside the building, at present, virtually non-existent due to the complete closure of the southern front. On the east side, the natural ventilation of the new glass volume is ensured by a continuous flow of air exchange, thanks to the “stack effect”, implemented with wind catcher tech-nology. New layers have been provided within the existing building envelope.The most interesting and significant retrofit issues are re-lated to the enhancement of the characteristic elements of the building (the chimney and tanks) actively involving them in the energy management of the building.The chimney, for example, has been reinterpreted as a real “solar tube”, capable of carrying external light directly into the most hidden interiors of the new cultural center (solar catcher technology).In this way, the tanks, turned into new exhibition halls, get direct sunlight; conceptually overturning their old function: instead of processing coal and producing “dirty”

energy, they receive “clean” solar energy.The functional design of the new cultural center regards four different type of spaces that are, at the same time, closely connected. The first space is a library that has a dual function: it is a place for training and information for internal users but also occasionally open to the general public. It is therefore both a creative workshop for Floren-ce, and for the university campus of Novoli; the other two areas are devotes to exhibitions and events organized by the University. Finally, a forth space that hosts a cafeteria and meeting area, vital to any new cultural building. Circu-lation and service cores are placed outside the main buil-ding, while all the social and cultural activities are inside the ex-power station.From an urban point of view, the project aims at being a point of reference between the new south side district of San Donato (Novoli) and the city development towards south-east. The former power station, being in a central position between the new multi-functional commercial center and the new San Donato Park, is an ideal point of connection between these two vibrant entertainment hubs. Through a system of raised green links, the design’s aim has been to create new connections between the dif-ferent points of interest in the area, also exploiting the difference in elevation between the east area and the ground of the former power station.

Hospital ExpansionUdine-Italy-2012

Competition

The proposed expansion and upgrading of the Gervasutta hospital in Udine (Italy) aims at transforming the institu-tion from a closed rehabilitation center to an open organi-sm that relates to the context, patients, health carers and, last but not least, the citizens .Fully aware that the hospital should be a contemporary public building, the project seeks to establish a relation-ship with the city.Humanizing the complexity is the challenge in the propo-sed model, that breaks with the past and works out a me-tamorphosis aiming at a new network of services within the city.The basic idea behind the project is is a general perme-ability, both visual as physical, built through elements of interest (entrance hall-cloister-green roof area).From the point of view of construction, the building is shaped like a plate arranged on one level above ground and one underground.Both levels have cloisters, similar to walled gardens with trees, which enrich the green system, allow for natural lighting and ventilation through the most internal part of the building.The courtyards help to make the architecture more light and transparent, as well as allow the park outside to en-

ter inside of therapy areas. The waiting areas are placed along the routes around the building, so as to make direct eye contact with the landscape: nature can thus carry out its therapeutic power, relaxing and communicating with patients while waiting.The routes and spaces in this area are thought of as paths that suddenly open in waiting areas.The new plate inserted in the central area, stresses the verticality of the green system too, through the new green roof accessible directly from the ward level.

New Civic CenterL’Aquila-Italy-2011

Workshop

The project regards a new civic center for the city of L’Aqui-la, devastated by an earthquake in 2009.The design was dictated by several functional and econo-mic considerations among which: easy accessibility, short chain, the reduction of the costs of construction through prefabrication, fast-track construction and low environ-mental impact.The new civic center was conceived as a multi-purpose center able to host the main activities of a mountain com-munity like that of Castelnuovo and to become the new center of the social life of the a community waiting to re-generate its historical urban core.The project is characterized by three key elements: the place of worship, the place for socializing and the place of recreation.The center offers a nursery and playroom for children, a gym and recreation room for young people; it ia also a welcoming environment for thr many elderly homeless, who can meet and get together in a warm and comforta-ble place such as the ‘village caffetteria’.These daily life spaces add up to two operational fun-ctions, useful both to the overall health of the population (i.e. the health center), and to the practical reconstruc-tion of Castelnuovo village (i.e. the business association

“Rebuild Castelnuovo”). The project aims at a “compact” structure which follows the boundaries of the lot, the heights, volumes, solids, voids and colors of the surroun-ding environment.The structure is essentially a modern structure capable of responding to the requirements of flexibility as well as of an easy reuse, thanks to the clear differentiation of servi-ce and served spaces.The building will be built with load-bearing structures in solid cross-laminated Xlam panels.The photovoltaic system will consist of n. 56 polycrystalli-ne photovoltaic modules of 370 Wp peak for a total power of 21,000 Wp peak.The conversion unit will consist of a 25 kWp inverter max.The plan of the 56 modules of the galvanized sheet roof is inclined at 15 ° to the horizon and has an azimuthal orien-tation of 0 ° south.The modules will be mounted on the aluminum supports over the roof with fixing accessories.