Campo di Marte Social Housing
© EREDI ALDO ROSSI, COURTESY FONDAZIONE ALDO ROSSI
The Campo di Marte urban regeneration project dates back to 1983 in Venice, when IACP (Istituto Autonomo Case Popolari) decides with the municipality to start an urban and architectural improvement process, providing for the formulation of social housing project in the eastern side of Giudecca. The international competition was won by the urban project by Alvaro Siza, choosing Aymonino, Rossi, Moneo and himself designing individual buildings.
The first step of the process was the Aymonino and Rossi buildings.
The Aymonino one is H-shaped, has 4 floors and is accessible via two entrances, two staircases and two lifts: it includes different types of accommodation, all with a warehouse at our disposal. The transparent pyramid-shaped coverage permits to light up service spaces (corridors, stairs ) and ensures a covered semi-public passage outside.
The Aldo Rossi building conforms an inverted U shape - observing the facades - with 4 floors and an attic floor, as usual in Rossi housing architectures: the coverage of the two buildings is vaulted, made with curved metal plates. Terraces put in connection two buildings, featuring shapes of the architectural organism.
Inside, the apartments are divided into 45, 66 and 95 m², including two equipped ones for disabled persons: the special attention to people with limited mobility is underscored by the adaptability of each space.
The third intervention, just partly realized, is made by the Portuguese architect Siza: the white-marbled building links his shape to the interventions of the Italian architects and establishes with them a formal and dimensional neighborhood relationship.
Outside, it has simple lines, a three-storey height on the ground floor with no protrusions but characterized only by simple typical Venetian style windows and by a 90° angle-rotated balcony.
Inside, four stairwells, each one of these with a lift, ensure an access to 32 apartments with different sizes.
A special care has been devoted to material and functional details: there are wooden floors, quality finishes, heating and tricks for the usability of people with disabilities in all rooms.
The realization of this first part should follow the second one, which will include 19 other lodgings: the interest in the continuation of this work is also confirmed by the decision to host the Portuguese Pavilion (curated by Nuno Grande and Roberto Cremascoli) at the 5th International Architecture Exhibition of ‘La Biennale di Venezia’, right inside the Siza project's yard, hoping to reiterate the need for the completation of the urban redevelopment.
