Extension of Casalpusterlengo Town Hall

Casalpusterlengo (a municipality in the Lodi province) Town Hall can be examined from two different points of view: first, contextually and, second, as an object in its own right. As an object, the Town Hall incorporates two sections, the old building and the new extension. The new building, although overlooks a secondary road, manages to draw in and absorb life in the nearby main square of this Lombardy town. It shifts the attention from the old building to the new decentralised addition accommodating offices open to the public, consequently redefining the layout of this entire piece of cityscape. The extension to the Town Hall is a powerful design statement. To capture this effect, the architects implemented an effective strategy. The decision to use glass deriving from contextual dialectics serves a metaphorical purpose. It evokes the ideal that council offices ought to be completely transparent-places where there is no room to let the dust settle and papers pile up, and where the actions of public officials continue in a transparent manner. This concept of transparency in architecture was embraced by the city council, determining it as a powerful message in the wake of all the recent corruption. The intent of transparency, perceived as a perfect glass house, led to the radical decision to use large curtain sheets of jointed glass. However, if the systems currently available on the market had been used, such techniques in design would have coughed up high costs that were unlikely for this building with a low cost budget. This led to the invention of a system, specially developed by the firm, involving a 12 m high glass structural wall working on a mechanism similar to a sail. This is what gets the compression glass working, leaving it free to make micro-movements and transferring the attractive forces to very thin cables attached, in turn, to iron columns characterising the building facade. The side facade, which also acts as the main entrance to Casalpusterlengo Town Hall, features the 12 m high structural glass partition made of approximately 2.80 m by 4.00 m sheets of glass. The entire facade is an innovation of design and structure formulated by the Arnaboldi firm. The Town Hall is designed to hold the technical - administration offices of Casalpusterlengo City Council. It is constructed in two sections, one new and one old, set out as follows: 555 sq. m. of office space on the ground floor, partly occupied by offices and partly by utilities serving this particular level; 630 sq. m. of first floor and second floor space, including offices; and a roof area housing the structural systems. Additionally, there are two stairwells for the main stairs and for the emergency exit from the meeting room and council chamber. Mario Antonio Arnaboldi and his partner Laura Francesca Ammaturo often refer to Buckminster Fuller and Peter Rice. They quote Fuller's claim that a building is only as smart as it is light. On the other hand they emphasise Rice's incredible engineering expertise, always aimed (whatever the circumstances) at combining innovation and form, structure and architecture. This design certainly owes something to both these men, but at the same time it strives for simplicity, a sense of order and proportion that can be attributed to the Italian tendency to draw on technology without flaunting it, giving it priority over other design features associated with context. Although the old is stripped bare of all that is superfluous and rendered more abstract by being painted white, it does so in order to leave room for a transparent new building. It is the character of the old building at present that becomes evident, thanks to the addition of this glass block that fills a space without any useless proliferation of signs. The idea of transparency and lightness combined with technological innovation has resulted in the saving of materials and costs and in the creation of a simple structure. Bibliography: C.Paganelli, “Progettare col computer”, Dedalo 7-8 ’99; Catalogo della mostra “Carneval Design”; Guida unica ‘01-‘02 Casalpusterlengo, “In giro per la città”; V.Travi, “Una vela per facciata”, Costruire 226; M. Nastri, “la poetica dell’innova- zione”, Sec 1, 2002; F.M. Malaguzzi, “Acciaio in trasparenza”, Costruzioni metalliche 2, 2002; L.Prestinenza Puglisi, “La metafora della materia”, l’Arca n°174; L.Prestinenza Puglisi, ”Palazzo Comu nale di Casalpusterlengo”, Spazio Architettura n°59/16; E.Guidotti, “Casalpusterlengo – Dalla vela al futuro”, Arkitekton n°7 dic.2002-gen.2003; The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture, Londra 2004; The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture – pocket edition , Londra 2004; Ruggero Lenci, “Verso un progetto ontologico dell’architettura, Intersezioni - Annali del Dip. di Architettura e urbanistica per l’ingegneria, Gangemi Editore, 2005; Italiy Builds, Italia costruisce, l’Arcaedizioni; “CANTON, Fiera Internazionale Piccole e Medie Imprese”, Matteo Gatto, l’Arca 220. Exhibitions: Mostra delle opere del premio internazionale Dedalo Minosse alla Committenza 2002; ITALY BUILDS: venti anni di architettura italiana, 15 settembre 2006, Canton – Cina. Awards: Premio internazionale Dedalo Minosse alla Committenza di Architettura 2002.