Printed in Genoa – April 2012

SPERONE PROJECT

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Sperone Project is a Design Studio held from January to April 2012 at the Charles E. Daniel Center for Building Research and Urban Studies, with twenty students, undergraduate, graduate and landscapers, of the Clemson School of Architecture, SC.

Sperone Project è un laboratorio di progettazione che si è svolto da gennaio ad aprile 2012, presso il Charles E. Daniel Center for Building Research and Urban Studies di Genova (Scuola di Architettura di Clemson University, SC), con venti studenti della scuola di architettura, del master di architettura e della scuola di paesaggio.

teachers / docentiHenrique Houayek, Luca Rocco, Alessandro Rocca

students’ teams / gruppi di progettazione degli studentiAlex Darsinos, Andrew McCall, Carolyn WoodsReid Bagwell, Carlin Bartlett, Gradey GrummanChen Fang, Calvin WrightLauren Boulier, Yuki Takeshima, Doug WhiteLiz Clarkin, Dylan Perkinson, David StoneMeagan Hoffman, Caitlin Kirby, Alison MartinTori August, Evan Goodwin, Grace Walters

This booklet is made in occasion of the public presentation of the projects elaborated by the Clemson students at the Urban Center of the Comune di Genova, Loggia della Mercanzia, piazza Banchi, the 26 of April 2012.

Questa pubblicazione esce in occasione della presentazione dei risultati del laboratorio all’Urban Center del comune di Genova, Loggia della Mercanzia, piazza Banchi, il 26 aprile 2012.

Forte Sperone Project - the bookletedited by / a cura di Alessandro Rocca

Genoa, Spring 2012

Cover image: Chen Fang, Calvin WrightRear cover image: Tori August, Evan Goodwin, Grace Walters

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SPERONE DESIGN STUDIO

Arriving at the fort (Alex Darsinos, Andrew McCall, Carolyn Woods).

The fort is a huge triangular (Sperone means spuur) military compound at the top of Peralto Mountain, at the confluence of three ridges which is the focal point of the natural Genoese amphitheater and of the ancient walls of the Repubblica di Genova. On the East side there is the steep slope which runs down in the Bisagno Valley; to the North, the fort faces the harsh winter winds which blow from the mountains; to the South, the open view on the city, the port and the Mediterranean sea.

EVOLUTION OF THE DESIGN PROCESSDAL PROCESSO AL PROGETTO

Henrique Houayek

CONTROLLED PROVOCATIONSPROVOCAZIONI CONTROLLATE

Luca Rocco

PROGRAMMING UTOPIAPROGRAMMARE UTOPIE

Alessandro Rocca

SPERONE PROJECTSCONSTELLATION GENOVA

FORTSCAPEARTSPACE

WINDSUN CANOPYWATERFALL

PERFORMING THE FORTTERRACING

CLEMSON GENOA CAMPUS

SPERONE

DESIGN STUDIO

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The most important consideration for this semester’s studio is the relationship between design process and a city’s urban context, its history and evolution over time. Genova’s exceptional characteristics create interesting and unaccustomed situations ideal for the practice of a young future architect. Forte Sperone, an important historical military fort, becomes the theme of intervention, as it affords important cultural and social connections within the city. The studio challenges students to understand these many factors and immerse themselves into an intensive and decisive design process. The studio’s agenda defies seminal questions at the heart of architecture’s history and theory, uniting Vitruvius First Principles and today’s Design Ecology, Ethics and the Making of Things1. Theoretical questions initially propose to students are: how to start the design process? What is the significance of architectures creative process? And what constitutes a correct architecture? Such questions embody important and decisive cognitive processes which will guide students into their own design evolution, developing a methodology capable of adapting to different circumstances. As future designers, students must be ready to react to these unexpected challenges; and as architecture educators, we the professors, must promote a sociological, ecological, technical and aesthetic state of awareness and engagement for our students. Working with a historical site creates opportunities to employ multiple arsenals of design strategies: attachment, in between, on top, next to it, deviations, ruins and re-growth, important concepts which characterize the relationship between old and new, interior and exterior. These conditions are very “Genovese”, they represent an opportunity to design in an area where the main forces are not traditional. Another important aspect of this project is to design the public space that connects the city to this new area, to connect these new programs to the existing city life. The challenge is to design more than just a program. Young designers have a ethical role to help create a positive wholeness in this city area. Every “act of construction has just one basic obligation: it must create a continuous structure of wholes around itself”, describes Christopher Alexander, “every increment of construction must be made in such a way as to heal the city.”2 The evolution of the design process is connected not to any specific style of technique; the evolution of the architect will come by the increasing connection between architect, city and society.

1. Title of William McDonough’ original sermon presented at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City. In NESBITT, Kate; Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 – 1995; Princeton Architectural Press 19962. ALEXANDER, Christopher; A New Theory of Urban Design; Oxford University Press 1987

Evolution of the Design Process

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Dal processo al progetto

Henrique Houayek Professor in residence

La considerazione più importante, a proposito di questo laboratorio di progettazione, riguarda la relazione tra il processo progettuale e il contesto urbano, la sua storia e la sua evoluzione nel tempo. Le particolari caratteristiche di Genova creano situazioni inconsuete e interessanti, ideali per l’esercizio di un giovane futuro architetto. Forte Sperone, che è l’oggetto dell’intervento, intrattiene importanti relazioni culturali e sociali con la città. Il laboratorio chiede agli studenti di comprendere questi molteplici fattori e di immergersi in un processo intensivo e decisivo. Il programma del laboratorio affronta questioni seminali al cuore della storia e della teoria dell’architettura, unendo Vitruvio a Design Ecology, Ethics and the Making of Things. Le questioni teoriche poste agli studenti sono: come iniziare il processo progettuale? Qual è il significato del processo creativo? Come si definisce un’architettura corretta? Questioni che incorporano importanti processi cognitivi che devono guidare gli studenti nell’evoluzione del loro progetto, sviluppando una metodologia capace di adattarsi alla specificità delle circostanze. Come futuri progettisti, gli studenti devono essere pronti ad affrontare sfide impreviste; e noi, come educatori, dobbiamo promuovere uno stato di consapevolezza e di impegno dal punto di vista sociologico, ecologico, tecnico ed estetico. Operare in un sito storico offre l’opportunità di seguire diverse strategie: adesioni, infiltrazioni, sovrapposizioni, avvicinamenti, deviazioni, rovine e rigenerazioni, concetti che definiscono il vecchio e il nuovo, l’interno e l’esterno. Condizioni molto genovesi che rappresentano la possibilità di progettare in un luogo dove le energie principali non sono di tipo tradizionale.Un altro importante aspetto riguarda lo spazio pubblico che connette quest’area, e i nuovi programmi, alla vita della città.La sfida è quella di andare oltre il programma. I giovani progettisti hanno un ruolo etico nel creare una nuova completezza, in quest’area. Ogni “atto costruttivo ha un unico dovere di base: deve creare, attorno a sé, una struttura continua di elementi finiti”, scrive Alexander, “ogni incremento di costruzione deve essere fatto in modo da sanare la città”. L’evoluzione del progetto non è legato a un particolare stile o a una tecnica; l’evoluzione dell’architetto dipende dalla qualità del suo rapporto con la città e con la società.

1. Titolo del sermone pronunciato da William Mc Donough nella cattedrale di St. John the Divine, a New York. In: Kate Nesbitt, Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: an Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965 – 1995, Princeton Architectural Press, 1996.2. Christopher Alexander, A New Theory of Urban Design, Oxford University Press, 1987

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Transportation and accessibility (Alex Darsinos, Andrew McCall, Carolyn Woods).

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During their four months in Genoa the students from Clemson make three one-week lasting travels (one to central-southern Italy including Florence, Rome and Naples, one to northern Italy, including Venice, Verona and Vicenza, one indipendent usually towards European places), every week they visit different sites in Genoa or they make day trips to near towns, they attend to seminars about sketching, European contemporary architecture, Italian rationalist movement, and partecipate to a short course of Italian language. Nonetheless most of their time, three days a week, is dedicated to the design studio, where we try to make them compete with the historical reality of the architecture and with the urban development of Genoa. Students are from different degrees about their educational project and follow different courses of study but in Genoa, due to the restricted number of them, they share the same syllabus; for many of them it’s their first visit in Europe. There is not a chance for specialized classes about restauration, or about Genoese historical building technology or about urban history. Main theme is design and the challenge is exciting: make them be aware of our architectural and urban history and put this in relationship with a contemporary project.During these years we have chosen for the design studio sites laying inside or close to the historical center or to the harbor of Genoa, trying to underline the attention to the relationship with the existing buildings, whatever was the architectural language that each group wanted to explore.The Forte Sperone project is a particular variation on the theme. With a complication, coming from the true reality. What to do about genoese forts? There it is, beyond the difficult theme about recovering these old and particular buildings, a more difficult challenge: to invent a new use, a new life for them.There architectural design begins and develops itself: putting together a new destination with a modified image of the existing: the fort not as a container to be recovered but as a generator of a new architecture. Whether volume or empty space, whether path or resting place, whether a different way to think of landscape, the wish of places modification proposal layed on the mere conservation of the manufact. This is not all. Whether cause or consequence of a different relationship between the site and the town, little by little it seemed to every student that the modifying design might have passed through a new way to approach and to get to the site and that this way would have conditioned the design process itself. That being stated, even the most minimalist idea seem to become out of scale, crossing the line, a kind of controlled provocation: maybe this is a way (of course it is not the only one) to give new life to such difficult places, so metaphisically locked into their stern austerity. In sum the final theme of the design studio, that took Forte Sperone as an experimental ground, could resume the seven different ideas in just one title: feasibility study of an utopia.

Controlled Provocations

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Nei quattro mesi del loro soggiorno genovese gli studenti americani fanno tre viaggi di una settimana (uno al centro-sud che comprende Firenze, Roma e Napoli, uno al nord che comprende Venezia, Vicenza e Verona, e uno a loro scelta, e di solito sono mete europee), ogni settimana visitano qualcosa di Genova o fanno un’escursione giornaliera in città vicine, seguono un corso di disegno dal vero, un seminario sull’architetura europea contemporanea, un altro sull’architettura razionalista italiana e infine un breve corso di lingua italiana. Ma la maggior parte del loro tempo, tre giorni la settimana, è dedicata a seguire un laboratorio di progettazione che li mette a confronto con la realtà storica dell’architettura e con la storia urbana genovesi.Gli studenti hanno diversi gradi di preparazione e diversi orientamenti di studio: molti di loro arrivano per la prima volta in Europa. Non c’è tempo per corsi specialistici di restauro, nel senso tradizionale del termine, di tecnologia del costruire storico genovese, di storia dell’urbanistica. Il tema resta progettuale e la sfida è entusiasmante: poter trasmettere loro qualcosa della nostra storia urbana e metterla a confronto con un progetto contemporaneo.In questi anni abbiamo scelto aree progettuali interne o limitrofe al centro storico o al porto antico, cercando di orientare la progettazione verso un rapporto con l’intorno costruito, indipendentemente dalle scelte dei linguaggi architettonici di ciascuno. Il progetto di Forte Sperone è in qualche modo una variante particolare del tema. Con una complicazione, che muove dalla realtà vera. Che fare dei forti genovesi? Ecco, oltre al difficile tema del recupero di queste particolari strutture antiche, l’ancor più difficile tema di inventarsi un nuovo uso ed una nuova vita per quelle.Lì nasce il progetto architettonico, nell’associare una nuova funzione a un’immagine modificata dell’esistente: il forte non come contenitore da recuperare ma come generatore di una nuova architettura. Che sia volume, che sia vuoto, che sia percorso o spazio di sosta, che sia una diversa maniera di intendere il paesaggio, la voglia di proporre una modificabilità dei luoghi si è sovrapposta alla semplice conservazione del manufatto. Non solo. Che sia la causa o la conseguenza di un diverso rapporto tra il sito e la città, a tutti gli studenti è via via parso chiaro come il progetto di modifica dovesse passare attraverso una nuova forma di accessibilità al luogo e ne dovesse essere da questa condizionato. Con queste premesse, anche il progetto più minimalista assume un tono di fuori scala, di sopra le righe, di provocazione controllata: e forse questa è una via (non è la sola, si intende) per dare una nuova vita a luoghi così difficili, così metafisicamente rinchiusi nella loro severa austerità. Insomma, il tema finale del laboratorio di progettazione, che ha avuto il forte Sperone come terreno di sperimentazione, potrebbe riassumere le sette diverse ipotesi in un unico titolo, lo studio di fattibilità di un’utopia.

Provocazioni controllate

Luca Rocco Visiting professor

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Project for the enlargement of Forte Sperone, by the Military Engineers of the Kingdom of Sardinia, 1821 (from the book of Leone Carlo Forti Le fortificazioni di Genova, published in Genoa, by Stringa, in 1971). The fort, towering element of the military system of defense of the Repubblica di Genova, started in 1319 and it was transformed and enlarged in different times. The military use was completely dismissed in 1981.

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The Righi mountain is an utopian non site, a no man’s land which is the opposite of the dense city below.It makes thirty years that the students of the Clemson School of Architecture visit and study the city of Genoa. For these young Americans, most of them grown in the rural environment of the Southern States, Genoa is the theater of a close experience of the urban European and Mediterranean culture. In the last two years, since it is at work this team of teachers, we elaborated architectural projects for different places in the historic center of the city: piazza Caricamento, piazza Campetto, via Quadrio, the Hennebique silo in the old port. And we asked the students, who stay in Genoa for four months, to quickly understand the specificities of these public places and of their buildings, often very old and heavily manipulated, with hundreds of years of modifications, enlargments of any kind and repairs.The results were always surprising. In the diversity of the technical and cultura skills – among undergrads, grads and landscape students – the projects witnessed that now, in the States, the culture of the urban project, the capacity of connecting and developing the urban complexity, is absolutely acquired. It is still more difficult the relationship with the existing architecture, with the refined texture and the functional mix of the historic city, so far from the simplified patterns of the contemporary suburbs and downtowns.With the Sperone project, elaborated in the Spring semester of 2012, we wanted to suggest to the students a peculiar problem, facing a building which is very complicated and as large as a small town, but which has, in respect to an urban context, a very simple and heavy structure. With the further problem that it is in a state of complete abandon, with heavy injuries and a problematic accessibility. The city, the sea, the Bisagno valley, the countryside, form the borrowed landscape, while the close context is the wild ambience of the Righi hills, uninhabited and out of any maintenance, and of the old historic walls system, which counts other eleven forts which, for the most part, stay in the same situation of unusefulness and abandon of the Sperone.In my opinion, the projects prepared by the twenty students, organized in seven teams, are all interesting and, every team following a peculiar path. Their first asset is the interpretation of such a huge and complicated fabric and, at the same time, the capacity of producing new and brave visions. They went at the boundaries of utopia, but remaining always in field of the possible and the feasible. To offer these projects to the attention of the Genoese people means, in our intentions, to share thoughts, studies and proposals focused on a place that is important, in the history and in the landscape of our city. A place that now is still looking for a future, for an escape from the abandon and from a process of decay which, in the next years, risks to make it lost forever.

Programming utopia

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Il Righi è un non luogo utopico, un sito selvaggio e impossibile, l’opposto deserto della città densa e compatta su cui affaccia.Sono ormai quasi trent’anni che gli studenti dell’università di Clemson, South Carolina, frequentano e studiano Genova. Per questi giovani americani, che per la maggior parte provengono dalle praterie e dalla cultura rurale degli stati del Sud, Genova è stata e continua a essere il teatro di un’esperienza ravvicinata della cultura architettonica e urbana europea e mediterranea. Negli ultimi anni, da quando si è costituito il gruppo di docenti oggi all’opera, abbiamo studiato soluzioni progettuali per piazza Caricamento, per un isolato in piazza Campetto, per il lato a monte di via Quadrio e per il silo Hennebique, chiedendo agli studenti, che si trattengono a Genova per un periodo di quattro mesi, di capire in fretta le condizioni specifiche di questi luoghi e delle architetture che li caratterizzano. I risultati sono stati sempre sorprendenti. Seppure nella diversità della preparazione e dei mezzi tecnici, tra studenti che si trovano in fasi diverse della loro formazione, tutti i progetti hanno testimoniato del fatto che ormai anche negli Stati Uniti la cultura del progetto urbano, cioè del progetto che comprende e integra le qualità esistenti di un luogo specifico, è saldamente acquisita. Resta sempre più complicato il rapporto con l’architettura esistente, con la spazialità minuta e raffinata e con la molteplicità funzionale della città storica, così lontana dalle semplificazioni della downtown contemporanea. Con il progetto di forte Sperone, elaborato nel semestre della primavera 2012, abbiamo voluto proporre agli studenti una condizione particolare, affrontandoun edificio che è complesso e grande quanto un villaggio ma che ha una struttura, rispetto all’architettura urbana, semplificata, massiccia, e per di più in stato di grave degrado. La città, il mare, la valle del Bisagno sono gli elementi del paesaggio lontano mentre il contesto immediato è formato dall’ambiente piuttosto selvaggio, e sostanzialmente disabitato, del Righi, e dall’architettura militare della cerchia delle mura. Le risposte progettuali dei venti studenti, che hanno operato suddivisi in sette squadre, sono state tutte interessanti e, in modi diversi, hanno colto e sviluppato in modo originale i problemi e le potenzialità del forte. Il loro merito maggiore, a mio parere, è quello di aver saputo capire e interpretare un edificio molto grande e complicato e, nello stesso tempo, di aver allestito visioni coraggiose, ai limiti dell’utopia, ma sempre verosimili e realizzabili. Proporre questi lavori all’attenzione dei genovesi significa, nelle nostre intenzioni, mettere in condivisione uno studio che ha avuto, per oggetto, un luogo importante della storia e del paesaggio della nostra città che, a tutt’ora, è in cerca di un futuro che lo sottragga all’abbandono e a un processo di degrado che, tra non molto, lo renderà definitivamente irrecuperabile.

Programmare utopie

Alessandro Rocca Visiting professor

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Forte Sperone is the most impressive and remarkable of the 12 old forts which protect the city towards inland. It was also one of the most important strategically. It is located at the peak of the 1663 new walls and it also was enlarged as the key-point of the nineteenth century fortifications. The actual fort was started in 1747 and strengthened up to 1794 and then enlarged during the Napoleonic period. The fort owes it present appearance to the restoration works which were carried out by the Sardinian government between 1815 and 1827. The entire structure has a very

The view arriving from South, from the last station of the Righi funicular (photo Henrique Houayek), the inner wall and the powder store (photos Alessandro Rocca).

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The upper level, the main walkway (photo Luca Rocco), the main space of the barracks, the entrance (photos Alessandro Rocca).

interesting scenic look thanks to its very varied and complex architecture. The Savoy crest of arms is above the entrance, which is protected by a moat and a very strong door. There is also a very interesting powder store in the lower part of the fort, the central barrack building and a beautiful chapel. Now the structure of the fort is still standing and looks solid, but all the interiors and the outdoor spaces lay in abandon and decay.

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Plans of the first and second levels of the present state.

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SPERONE PROJECTS

CONSTELLATION GENOVAAlex Darsinos, Andrew McCall, Carolyn Woods

FORTSCAPEReid Bagwell, Carlin Bartlett, Gradey Grumman

ARTSPACEChen Fang, Calvin Wright

WINDSUN CANOPYLauren Boulier, Yuki Takeshima, Doug White

WATERFALLLiz Clarkin, Dylan Perkinson, David Stone

PERFORMING THE FORTMeagan Hoffman, Caitlin Kirby, Alison Martin

TERRACINGTori August, Evan Goodwin, Grace Walters

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Constellation Genova’s goal is to repurpose Forte Sperone by creating a space that can host a variety of interactive events that give back to the people. By reprogramming the fort with public & private venue space, an observatory, and a boardwalk, our aim is to reconnect the people of Genova with Forte Sperone. The boardwalk connects the three sections of the castle that were previously divided, by winding through the programs and through varying levels, allowing a new path of circulation. By doing this, we have created an experience that one can enjoy several times over, each time, finding a new and interesting space.

Alex Darsinos Andrew McCall Carolyn Woods

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Views of the boardwalk, the atrium and the main staircase leading to the fort’s second and third section.

CONSTELLATION GENOVA

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PASSING THROUGHSections through the main elevator and entrance, view of the pool, looking towards north, and diagram of the circulation.

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Genoa’s history is reflected through its many historical buildings. Fort Sperone, unlike others, is removed from the urban context of the city. While it maintains its architectural and military history, its location outside of the city presents a unique opportunity to bring to the city into its surrounding natural context. To bring the city into the fort, a gallery/exhibit space and event space have been introduced as cultural amenities. The gallery space is accompanied by necessary amenities such as ticket office, coat room, administration offices, a gallery shop, and café. Small flexible outdoor plaza spaces are interwoven into the lower gallery floor to provide exterior event space as needed. The event space in the upper level of the fort allows for more flexibility and is connected to a large exterior event space. A café on the upper level provides services for both events and the general public. To build upon the existing nature of the fort, greenhouses are incorporated as a means to produce vegetation that can be sold for profit and integrated back into the city, bringing the natural context of the fort back to the city. Main greenhouses are located on the upper levels of the castle, providing opportunities for research at both student and faculty levels, while a showroom and shop are located further down for easy public access. The open spaces of the fort have been maintained and transformed to capitalize on the green spaces developing the fort further into the role of a public park. As the fort is a piece of Genoa’s architectural history, the conservation of the fort’s structure remained a priority. Minor adjustments were made to meet program needs and improve the circulation throughout the fort. Water features are introduced throughout the fort, creating an overall connection back into the entry plaza. As the entry plaza reflects Genoa’s port, a key element in the city, the connection of water features seeks to reflect the connection of the fort as it relates to the city and the port. The accessibility of the fort is further developed with an additional finiculare stop and trails leading up to and around the fort. Within the fort, accessibility is increased with the addition of staircases and elevators. Private circulation in the gallery spaces and greenhouse administration spaces are separated from public circulation, so the fort is easily accessible to the public during private events.

FORTSCAPEThe upper esplanade, transformed in a belvedere garden, and a view of the gallery exhibition space.

Reid Bagwell Carlin Bartlett Gradey Grumman

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Sections through the main axis of the fort with the greenhouse; the roofplan, showing the new public gardens, and the pathway along the external walls.

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FORTSCAPE

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As we developed our project for the renovation of Fort Sperone, we quickly realized the geographic, military, and historical importance of the fort. In order to create a space that would attract people from the city to the mountain top, we have programmed the fort as an ‘Art Zone’, which will extend the cultural center to the outskirts of the city. The Art Zone is more than a place to display art, though that is a primary function of the project. It is a place to explore, browse, shop, work, drink, and enjoy the unique ambience of a historical military fort. In order to preserve this unique and mysterious ambience, we are implementing a relatively small number of exterior renovations. The bulk of our intervention takes place within the existing walls, and does not interfere with the existing prospect of the fort. The exception to this rule is the entrance of the fort. We specifically edited this section heavily, in order to reverse the imposing nature of the existing structures, inviting the public into a space which formerly was reserved for military use. The additions to the fort include an entrance piazza, a renovation of the exterior wall to create an open arcade, a cantilevered stage that simultaneously functions as a canopy, major renovations to the interior of the keep, a bridge to connect the roof of the keep to the rear green space, an entirely new underground section for circulation and display, and many minor changes to interior spaces. In order to make this remote site easily accessed by all ages, we have implemented a few transportation changes.

DIagram and section of the entrance system and masterplan of the transformed fort.

Chen Fang Calvin Wright

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ARTSPACE

Two existing parking lots will be renovated, one to the south-east and one to the south-west of the fort. These will be connected to the fort by walking paths. The south-east parking lot is the midway stop for a new funicular, which runs from the Righi funicular to the entrance piazza in front of the fort. Minor landscape changes will be made to make the fort more accessible and pleasant for all. This includes landforms for the piazza, planting of trees, and restructuring of the roof of the keep to include sustainable growth.

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Views of the northern terrace and the transormed roofs, the inner galleries and the esplanade, looking at the city and the sea.

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ARTSPACE

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Windsun is an educational campus focused on agricultural studies and culinary arts relating to the surrounding landscapes and culture within the Liguria region and all of Italy. The campus ultimately houses four educational facilities along with various exhibition spaces such as the aquaponics farm and living library. These are: School of Horticulture, School of Culinary Arts, Community Learning Center, and the Children’s Sustainability Center. Forte Sperone as an educational campus will draw people from all age groups, not just with our educational facilities but with the open learning experience that will be availabl throughout the site.The applied canopy that sweeps across the site in strategic locations originates from the uppermost open area of the site and reaches toward the new funicolare stop along the western wall. Some of the negative spaces created by the beams of the megastructures are covered to provide shading from the harsher western sun exposure in the summer months as well as shielding the outdoor spaces from the northeastern wind in the winter. With vines and trees bridging the gap between the two surfaces of ground and canopy, the space between these two places will be the key focus in our new design of Forte Sperone.

Sperone timeline and plans of the six levels.

Lauren Boulier Yuki Takeshima Doug White

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WINDSUN

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The huge canopy is a light shelter which creates a series of new spaces, over the fort. The aim is to develop better environmental conditions for the public use of the fort.

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WINDSUN

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Forte Sperone was designed and used for war and violence. After decades of abandonment, the fort has fallen into decay requiring a new vision, to save a major part of history for Genova, Italy. Our design focuses on repurposing the fort as a place for relaxation and meditation. In order to achieve this, a variety of spaces from thermal bathes to meditation pods were created to allow for congregation and seclusion to focus on one’s self. During your journey through the fort you will experience places for contemplation in between your destinations. The Fort offers a rare opportunity to completely escape the commotion of Genova and experience silence and solitude. Thus, a space of abandonment and anger becomes a place to rediscover yourself.

The fort is transformed in a place for a philosophical experience about the self. Sound and humidity are inproved by a huge waterfall which connects the two main levels of the fort.

Eliizabeth Clarkin Dylan Perkinson David Stone

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WATERFALL

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The entrance system and the waterfall, the baths which occupy the recovered bulding at the upper level.

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WATERFALL

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The Forte Sperone Theater Center develops, presents and produces live performances through collaboration between artists, staff, and audience. Through its unique approach to performance creation, the Center provides artists with the space, funding, mentorship, profile, and sense of community in order to explore an idea and develop new artistic styles. The free nature of the theater program allows for a wide range of genres – theatre, dance, music, forum discussions, installation, performance art, film and new media. The Center also supports local artists in other fields with quarterly art exhibits that are sold to support the theater.The Theater Center houses a large auditorium, seating 800, and a smaller black box theater, which seats 110. The facility also includes a large outdoor theater space as well as a smaller single-performer venue used during warmer months. The theater supports unique performance creation through its numerous rehearsal studios, music rooms, set shops, recording studios, and production spaces. It also houses community spaces, like a rooftop restaurant and rentable venue space.

The auditorium, closed into the spur (in Italian: sperone), takes light from the sides and from the glass towers placed onto the roof garden. The plans with the location of the varius spaces for theatrical activities.

Meagan Hoffman Caitlin Kirby Alison Martin

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PERFORMING ART CENTER

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North-South section, with all the main spaces of the fort, and plans with the indication of the interventions and of the canopies which shelter part of the outdoor area.

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PERFORMING ART CENTER

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Today we live in a world that is fast-paced, where convenience is often considered more important than health. We believe that this mindset could be altered, if only we had the appropriate space that would allow us to make these changes in our everyday lives. We propose that Fort Sperone in Genova, Italy should be renovated into a Center for Agritourism, where health is at the root of the design. To contradict the original military purpose, the fort will appear to be ‘attacked’ by nature through the use of terraced farmland and animal grazing space rising up to the top of the fort. These natural terraces will then overcome the castle walls and become the design for a large pedestrian space. It will create a diagonal transition space from bottom to top through stairs, terraced green space, and large grass plateaus.

Diagrams with the main functions and witht the new terracing which attacks to eastern and northern sides of the fort, and plans of the level 5th and roofs.

Tori August Grace Walters Evan Goodwin

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TERRACING

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Diagram of the proposed connection with the public transportation system, diagram of the main functions, views of the terracing of the eastern wing.

The opportunities for this space are endless, as it is at the heart of our design. It will encourage exercise as well as circulation throughout the fort and will also integrate the exterior farmland. The terracing will overpower the castle and occupy the entire east side including the top point of the fort, allowing the pedestrian to reach the highest viewpoint. In addition to the pedestrian terracing, our center will include a market space to sell the fresh produce from outside the castle walls; a conference space for health discussions and classes; a fresh café using the produce on site; a wine bar that will have daily and nightly uses; and an elevated pedestrian path for healthy circulation and beautiful views of the city.

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TERRACING

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Laura Lynn Hutton, villa Clemson, Genova, Fall 2011.

Ryan Hunt, villa Clemson and its gardens seen from via Piaggio, Genova, Spring 2011.

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CLEMSON GENOA CAMPUS

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Clemson University, through the College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities and its Office of Off-Campus Programs (OCP), administers and coordinates all programs at the Center.Accommodating up to twenty-four (24) students, the Daniel Center provides living, dining, studio, library and related facilities.

The Daniel Center faculty and staff are:Silvia Siboldi Carroll, Administrative DirectorSaverio Fera, Visiting ProfessorAlessandro Rocca, Visiting ProfessorLuca Rocco, Visiting ProfessorGiuditta Poletti, LecturerCristina Lagomarsino, CookLucia Ruggiero, Librarian and HousekeeperHenrique Houayek, Professor-in-Residence 2011-2012Barbara Zaczek, Italian Professor

The Villa and its HistoryWhat is now known as the CAF Charles E. Daniel Center for Building Research and Urban Studies was built by Mr. Arturo Caimi in 1899. Through generous gifts and support, the Clemson Architectural Foundation (now known as The Clemson Advancement Foundation) purchased the villa in 1973 from Anna Vallarino Sciarra and Regina Vallarino Dufour, the heirs of Ada Dacco. At the time of the purchase, the villa was known as the “Villa Chichizola”.The villa was discovered and purchased by Dr. Harlan E. McClure (founder and Dean of Clemson University’s College of Architecture from 1955-1984) and his friend and colleague, Dr. Cesare Fera, who was the Daniel Center’s Director from 1973 until his death in 1995.The Center is named after Mr. Charles E. Daniel who was the founder of the Daniel Construction Company, now Fluor Daniel, a subsidiary of the Fluor Corporation. In the late 1970’s, Mr. Daniel’s wife, Homozel M. Daniel, donated money to the Clemson Architectural Foundation in order to secure the ownership of the villa. The villa remains an asset to the architecture program.

Clemson Architecture Center, Genoa

College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities - CLEMSON UNIVERSITYClemson, SC, USA, 29634-0508

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Clemson University, attraverso il College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities e il suo Office of Off-Campus Programs (OCP), amministra e coordina tutte le attività del centro. Il Daniel Center può accogliere fino a 24 studenti e offre residenza, i pasti, gli spazi per lo studio, una biblioteca e tutti i servizi necessari.

Il corpo docente e non docente del centro è formato da:Silvia Siboldi Carroll, direttore amministrativoSaverio Fera, visiting professorAlessandro Rocca, visiting professorLuca Rocco, visiting professorGiuditta Poletti, lecturerCristina Lagomarsino, cuocaLucia Ruggiero, bibliotecaria e governanteHenrique Houayek, professor-in-residence (2011-2012)Barbara Zaczek, professore di Italiano

La villa e la sua storiaL’edificio che ospita il Charles E. Daniel Center for Building Research and Urban Studies fu eretto da Arturo Caimi nel 1899. Grazie alle donazioni e a generosi finanziamenti, la Clemson Architectural Foundation (che oggi è rinominata Clemson Advancement Foundation), nel 1973 acquistò la villa da Anna Vallarino Sciarra e Regina Vallarino Dufour, eredi di Ada Dacco. A quell’epoca l’edificio era conosciuto come villa Chichizola.La villa fu individuata e acquistata da Harlan E. McClure, fondatore e, dal 1955 al 1984, preside del Clemson University’s College of Architecture, insieme al suo amico e collega prof. Cesare Fera, che diresse il Daniel Center dal 1973 fino alla sua scomparsa, avvenuta nel 1995. La denominazione del centro è dedicata a Charles E. Daniel, fondatore della Daniel Construction Company, ora Fluor Daniel e inglobata nella Fluor Corporation. Alla fine degli anni settanta, la moglie di Charles, la signora Homozel M. Daniel, fece una donazione in denaro che permise alla Clemson Architectural Foundation di assicurarsi la proprietà della villa che, a oggi, rimane un punto di forza nel programma di studi in architettura.

Clemson Architecture Center, Genoa

College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities - CLEMSON UNIVERSITYClemson, SC, USA, 29634-0508

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University founder Thomas Green Clemson was born in Philadelphia and educated in the United States and Europe. A champion of formal scientific education, he had a lifelong interest in agricultural affairs and farming.He came to the South Carolina Foothills when, in 1838, he married Anna Maria Calhoun, daughter of South Carolina’s famous statesman, John C. Calhoun.In the post-Civil War days of 1865, Thomas Clemson looked upon a South that lay in economic ruin, once remarking “this country is in wretched condition, no money and nothing to sell. Everyone is ruined, and those that can are leaving.”Thomas Clemson’s death on April 6, 1888 set in motion a series of events that marked the start of a new era in higher education in South Carolina. In his will, he bequeathed the Fort Hill plantation and a considerable sum from his personal assets for the establishment of an educational institution that would teach scientific agriculture and the mechanical arts to South Carolina’s young people.In November 1889, Gov. John Peter Richardson signed the bill accepting Thomas Clemson’s gift, which established the Clemson Agricultural College, with its trustees becoming custodians of Morrill Act and Hatch Act funds made available for agricultural education and research purposes by federal legislative acts. Although he also is remembered for other accomplishments, Thomas Clemson made his greatest historical contribution when his life became intertwined with the destiny of educational and economic development in South Carolina. Clemson College formally opened in July 1893 with an enrollment of 446. From the beginning, the college was an all-male military school. It remained this way until 1955 when the change was made to “civilian” status for students, and Clemson became a coeducational institution. In 1964, the college was renamed Clemson University as the state Legislature formally recognized the school’s expanded academic offerings and research pursuits.More than a century after its opening, the University provides diverse learning, research facilities and educational opportunities not only for the people of the state — as Thomas Clemson dreamed — but for thousands of young men and women throughout the country and the world.

From Thomas Clemson to Clemson University