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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

CENTRO*Arezzo Coop.fi in Florence, Italy by Piuarch

 
May 28th, 2017 by Sumit Singhal

Article source: Piuarch

An iconic urban landmark, but also a sustainable structure for an evolving shopping experience: the new CENTRO*Arezzo Coop.fi frees itself from the conceptual dictates of the traditional shopping mall and acts as a social and recreation pole that is perfectly integrated with the city. Opened in 1988, the complex has undergone a significant aesthetic and functional redevelopment that has completely changed its identity and its relationship with the surrounding environment.

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

  • Architects: Piuarch
  • Project: CENTRO*Arezzo Coop.fi
  • Location: Florence, Italy
  • Photography: Giovanni Hanninen
  • Software used: Autocad, 3D Studio Max, V-Ray and Rhino
  • Partners: Francesco Fresa, German Fuenmayor, Gino Garbellini and Monica Tricario
  • Associates: Cristina Castelli, Marco Dragoni, Luca Lazzerotti, Mauro Mandelli, Gianni Mollo, Miguel Pallares, Salvatore Seggio and Jenny Spagnolatti

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

The Piuarch project, commissioned by Unicoop Florence, is based on the repetition of the circle shape, the cornerstone of the company’s logo, and on the idea of a fluid three-dimensional strip, which becomes both a façade and a distributive path among the different functions. Several elements are involved in this concept: the envelope, characterized by a chromatic and compositional duality, is matched with the renewed ways of using the building, with a greater number and variety of shops and more rest and interaction areas, dedicated especially to children.

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

On the outside, two overlapping strips create the façade: the base, articulated by a mélange of colors recalling the bricks of Arezzo, is contrasted with a continuous strip of white fiberglass, defined by circular openings with a diameter varying from 20 to 50 cm that create a dynamic optical effect. Inspired by the graphics of the Coop logo, the same pattern thus identifies the surface of the tower, conceived by Piuarch with the aim of establishing a direct dialogue with the historical setting and landscape of Arezzo.

Inside, the perforated grid theme is continued also in the ceilings of the shop galleries, based on the idea of the street and the square, according to a natural continuation of the layout of the city.

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

The result of a design oriented towards the values of environmental sustainability, the relationship with greenery, and the quality of materials and of spatial relationships, CENTRO*Arezzo is the first example of one of the possible forms through which large-scale retail can positively influence the evolution of the city and its dynamics. This has been further acknowledged by the CNCC Deep Renovation & Design Awards, a prestigious recognition promoted by the National Council of Shopping Centers and assigned to the Piuarch design for the “Building renovation” category, related to commercial complexes ranging from 5.000 to 30.000 sqm.

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

About Piuarch

Founded in 1996 by Francesco Fresa, Germán Fuenmayor, Gino Garbellini and Monica Tricario, Piuarch is a team of forty architects and engineers from all over the world led by four partners and 8 associates. It works in the field of architecture, ranging from retail to fashion, office building design, the development of residential and hospitality complexes, and urban planning.

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

Image Courtesy © Giovanni Hanninen

Awarded with  the “2013 Italian Architect of the Year” prize and with two Gold Medals for “Honorable Mention” at the Milan Triennale, and several times exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Piuarch is one of the major names in architecture in Milan, with numerous architectural and interior design projects for prestigious fashion brands (Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Givenchy, Les Hommes) internationally built.

Image Courtesy © Piuarch

Contact Piuarch

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Categories: 3dS Max, Autocad, Commercial Area, Commercial Building, Rhino, Shop, shopping center, Shopping Mall, V-Ray




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