CONDITIONS:

§       a small triangular area

§       100 m2 of building capacity

§       a conspicuous, even though not valuable, presence of trees

§       a strongly reduced investment possibility

§       a client who balances his life between Italia and Africa, where he deals with active cooperation

This leads to the idea of inter...

      CONDITIONS:

§       a small triangular area

§       100 m2 of building capacity

§       a conspicuous, even though not valuable, presence of trees

§       a strongly reduced investment possibility

§       a client who balances his life between Italia and Africa, where he deals with active cooperation

This leads to the idea of interbreeding the performance characteristics and the intrinsic qualities of Western buildings with the craftiness and simplicity (and thus the cheapness) of African ones.

A self-building system is chosen, though it’s a high performance one, especially under energetic aspects

      PROGRAM:

§       the choice of a simple, light and cheap technology: wood. Fir laminated timber beams and OSB panels

§       the trees (with their shadow, and thus coolness) generate the house geometry, which remains anyway simple and Cartesian

§       the methods with which roots are cutted and looked after establish the proximity of the building to the greenery which surrounds and covers it

§       the falling of the leaves on the building determines the roof geometry

§       gutters can’t be used

§       the exact position of the broad-leaved trees determines the place of the windows in order to obtain shading in summer and a positive greenhouse effect in winter

§       the adopted materials are reduced so as to avoid to teach the client how to work with new technologies

      TECHNOLOGIES:

§       a brick-blocks structure conceived as two counterposed C constitutes the spine of the house and ensures its earthquake-proof performances

§       the copper covering envelopes the whole building defining the interface with the contiguous vegetation

§       the structural frames, made of laminated timber beams, fit their pace on the panels dimension; less waste, more saving

§       the glazed surfaces use the vertical beams in place of the window frames, with the help of structural silicone glue and glass clamps

§       the winter thermal response is optimized by a combination of a programmable fireplace with forced airflow exchanger, together with a continuous thermal insulation realized with a ventilated reflecting mattress, used in aerospace engineering (there’s anyway, in reserve, a more traditional methane boiler combined with a radiant floor heat panels system)

§       the ‘Rothoblaas’ patent permits to joint all the pieces of the timber structure with simple patented screws

Project drawings look closer to IKEA instructions rather than classic working ones.

The most powerful screwdriver available is bought on e-bay.

The works begin.