Existenxmaximum - Atlas of Shared Living. Vol. III from Venice to Shanghai and back

ExistenzMaximum
ATLAS OF SHARED LIVING
vol. III
[ an uncomplete,
and unfinished
journey through
times, people,
and the sharing
economy. ]
thesis
by ani safaryan
Milano 2019

v.III
Ani Safaryan
Prof.: Piero Poggioli
Tutor.: Micaela Bordin
Politecnico di Milano
Scuola di Architettura
Urbanistica Ingegneria
delle Costruzioni - MI
Laurea Magistrale
Architettura MI 1136
E12
850279
Milano 2019

# existenzmaximum
Following is the author’s attempt to define a set of rules and guidelines for a
new typology of social housing as seen from the
millennial perspective.
The two projects: for Venice and for Shanghai have been developed as
models that could be replicable for the cases of historical cities and cities
in the countries with emerging economies. The two have been designed in
contemporary and are presented in a constant confrontation to highlight
the differences between those two worlds and to accent the similarities of
both in front of the common future.

Vol.I
# Sharing economy
Chapter I
“Of Millennials
and of their
unusual
manner of
living.”
Chapter II
“How
Millennials
grew up with
Technology and
where it leads
them.”
Chapter III
“Of the manner
the things are
shared, swapped,
traded and rented
in the Sharing
Economy”
p.05
p.23
p.35
Chapter IV
“Of Airbnb, or
How to belong
Anywhere ”
Chapter VI
“From
Existenzminimum
to Existenzmaximum,
Or how the Architects
designed our homes
in the last century”
Chapter VII
“Of Venice and
Shanghai and
how they treat
the Time differently”
p.51
p.67
p.77
Vol.III
# From Venice to Shanghai and back
Chapter I
“Of Home
as a Network”
Chapter II
“How a Palazzo
in Venice got
transformed”
Chapter III
“How to move
from Venice
to Shanghai in
one day”
p.05
p.39
p.95

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Vol.II
# Communal living
Chapter I
“How Hakka
people built
earthen
building and
lived ”
Chapter II
“What manner of
dwelling
the Yanomami
have”
Chapter III
“Of the manner the
Iroquis, the Viking
and the Austronesian
Longhouse is made”
p.05
p.17
p.29
Chapter IV
“How the Qala
Residents hid
their houses
from the
Strangers’ eyes”
Chapter V
“How people in
Kommunalka
set their own
rules and of their
manner of living”
Chapter VI
“How Migrants
used to dwell
in Boarding
Houses”
p.57
p.69
p.77
Chapter VII
“How the Squats
are vanishing
everywhere and
how people in Køpi
resist”
Chapter VIII
“How communal
dinners stopped
taking place in
Kollontai”
Chapter VII
“Of Venice and
Shanghai and
how they treat
the Time differently”
p.95
p.109
p.121
# Author’s observations
Legal Issues
v.I, p.57
Privacy
v.I, p.66
The two
cosmopolitans
v.I, p.80
The new type
of city dweller
v.I, p.95
Of Ikea and
identity
v.III, p.21

CHAPTER 1 Of Home as a Network

THE MILLENNIAL SOCIAL HOUSING
for static and floating urban population
benefits for all:
affordable housing stock (upgrade and
renewal)
economically profitable sheme
sustainability and balanced distribution
(of locals and tourists, of resources)
new services available
development catalyst
new connections
affordable rent
convenient location
network of like-minded people
access to more facilities and things
ease of travel
authentic local experience
possibility to monetize some assets
* Thiel, Peter A., and Blake Masters. Zero to one: Notes on startups, or how to build the future.
Broadway Business, 2014.

connectedness
the biggest challenge:
critical mass:
network effects
make product as
much useful, as
more people use it.
to gain the critical
mass the product
should be valuable
for its first users,
when the network
is necessarily
small*.

THE NEW EXISTENZMINIMUMMAXIMUM
The big problem of the real estate market and the housing policies today is their
“social blindness”.
Generally, throughout the history, architecture for homes and apartments is the
most conservative sector to resist innovation the longest*, but sometimes the
change in the way the people live is so big that the transformation of the dwellings
is unavoidable. And we are experiencing on of those change periods, for the way
people organize themselves as a community has changed drastically, both inside
the housing unit and in the community at large, even though the basic needs
of sleeping, eating, and hygiene remain largely consistent. There are several
changes affecting how people live.
First, there are demographic changes: More than ever the urban household is
not populated by the standard family, father, mother, and children, but is headed
up by singles. In many cities households without children outnumber the ones
with children. These trends are fed by the two strong cohorts of the aging baby
boomers and the underemployed millennials. Both groups are looking for urban
accommodation. With the trend towards the more expensive urban living,
homeownership is down and rentals are up.
Then there is density. The global trends of urbanization require accommodation
that is different from the repertoire that has been built for nearly a century: The
three story walk-ups, double loaded corridor tower slabs, and the variations of
the rowhouse aren’t enough to satisfy the shifted demands. Global urbanization
also requires more sustainable structures not only in terms of how much space
housing takes up but how much energy it uses, how resilient it is against climate
change and what its transportation footprint is.
Last but not least, there are the cultural shifts. No matter how exciting remote
work can seem, there can still be challenges in balancing the individual’s needs
and values. For many, the location independent lifestyle can be isolating, and for
those who often move, there can be a distant sense of belonging to any place
or community.
Social isolation can be difficult for those who travel to places where they can no
longer communicate, but it can even be challenging for the remote worker at
home. The formal workplace, although restricting, does offer a lot of opportunities
for social interaction.
11
* Adolf Loos agrees: “The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative”

Therefore, the issue is to improve how we set up where and how we live. The existing
common types of housing, whether it’s the individual apartment cell or suburban
detached house, only frame the life of the individual (or the individual and their
family). There aren’t many systems in place to encourage social mixing.
The new type of housing should answer those questions and provide new, different
ways for culturally and ethnically diverse adults to live together. It has to adress
the questions of isolation and the peoples’ desire for place-making, community,and
interaction that drives the trend to urbanity overall.
When not working, many young professionals would prefer to spend less time at
home, and more time out with friends, exploring the city or seeking experiences.
Thus, why pay in your rent fees for these spaces that you don’t frequently use?
Why to have a living room and a kitchen, when one hardly uses them. The trend
of the last decades to equip the kitchen with all the commercial appliances possible
is a bit comic at a time when so much food is bought prepared requiring minimal
preparation work in the kitchen, etc.
If one accepts to give up some of its own spaces inside of the apartment and
transfer those to the public realm, one agrees to condense its private apartment
to the minimum needed, and with the new trend of intangible assets one really
doesn’t need much, except for spacious room, pleasant to stay in, and some
basic servant spaces, that no one wants to share with others, like bathroom and
storage units for own stuff. Instead one gets a wide range of common amenity
spaces, which turn the living into an experience and allow communal interaction
between the residents in kitchens, gyms, coworking spaces, in-house bars, media
centers and the like. The shared spaces are essential for encouraging casual
social engagement.
For some, although they like the idea of travel, may prefer to stay where many
of their friends or colleagues live. However, the individual should be able to live
locally in the own hometown, while still being able to pursue the experience
driven lifestyle that many prefer. In other markets, business models based on
ownership are quickly being replaced by service models. This should unfold in
housing now as well and may help the cities which are facing the problem of their
local population loss.
Although this causal interaction is good for one’s health, it might be a critical
opportunity for developing business, intellectual or artistic relationships as well.
12

This new type of house could become some kind of a social incubator for new
ideas: a community of young professionals around a dinner table every night, who
each pursue their own passions, would be a great opportunity to broaden one’s
knowledge and exposure to new interesting things.
For the new millenium a residential building should be
a not only an assembly of dwelling units but a place
where the sharing mentality manifests itself in its many
facets and transforms the living into an experience.
The new dwelling has to mix the local static population
with the ones constantly on the move to encourage their
social interraction and mixing, it has to give the feeling
of belonging not only for those who are in their own
territory but also for those who are transient guests.
And then there is one more crucial question left: if
one is constantly on the move and increasingly location
independent, does he still need to have a house?
- Yes.
... But is it enough to have just one?
13

If we need to really adress the question of the housing in depth, it is clear, that
with the new way of nomadic living, having a suitable house just in one location
is not anymore enough. The house should become a part of a wider network of
places, inbetween which one could move freely. This implies a collaboration on
an international level, more connectedness and openness.
The way an individual sees himself in its dwelling should be similar to one of
a Yanomami indian seeing himself in the biosphere: a radial perception of one’s
Self’s relation to the outer world.
The dwelling becomes a system which works by gradually sharing some things
with the others.
The first circle of the system is the resident in his own private unit brought to the
new Existenzminimum. Next circle is the one who is at closest to the resident,
someone that he chose to live with: a partner, a spouse, a kid, a friend or someone
else. Then there are people on the same floor who share some basic spaces and
amenities with the resident. Widening the overall interraction, there are people
in the house who share with the resident a wider range of facilities and spaces.
Next come the people of the district, that not only share with the residents some
exterior spaces of the city, but ony may have access to some of the services inside
of the house. On a wider scale, there is the city that works in a symbiosis with the
house. And then there is the world with other locations as the house, which are
interchangable.
In this interrelated scheme everyone follows its own interests while at the same
time benefiting the others. The residents gets an affordable dwelling and access to
a big range of services. The people of the district get some new interesting services
available to them, but also some economical profits from the new residents as well
as a more culturally and ethnically diverse community.
The city gets its tourists and locals better distributed, the question of the affordable
housing gets sorted and turns into a profitable model. It gets his abandoned
buildings or vacant plots tranformed into places of crucial vitality and energy, it
may also solve its obsolete housing stock by replacing it gradually with the new,
more dense housing model.
While the world benefits by getting more connected and open with a network of
like-minded people linked through their big housing community.
14

15

16

17

18

19
#author’s observations
OF IKEA AND IDENTITY

The new type of dwelling for the digital nomads is born as a fruit of the capitalism
and globalization. It takes advantage of the relative low cost of the travel and of
the sharing economy systems to make it easy to roam from one location to the
other with a great convenience. The millennial housing becomes some sort of a
worldwide franchise chain: if one knows how one location works, he knows also
what to expect from the others. What does this imply in terms of space?
Taking the example of any capitalist giant that provides spaces to stay, let’s say
Starbucks. Can one guess if the coffee shop is in Bejing, Berlin or New York from
the interior? If we shut the view to the surrounding context there will be not many
hints to know. The place would be the same anywhere, the smells, the taste and
the way the place lives would be the same; the surroundings - irrelevant. A 21st
century heterotopia.
Now we take the housing example. We go to Airbnb, we choose a superhost, we
check the reviews, we look to a neatly looking flat. Is it in Bangkok or Milan? On
average we are going to encounter a vast amount of listings looking all the same,
even furnished with the same furniture, exhibiting the same objects. We recognize
that average-nice style, we know we can expect an average-good quality, we go for
it.
But does it really make any sense to move from one part of the world to the other,
to finish up sitting on the same chair be it in Beijing or Berlin? Being a big crowbased/crowd-funded
network instead of a collection of autonomous entries, the
existenzmaximum housing could allow the luxury of denying the globalization
and the capitalism in its locations. Every single location should become a catalyst
of the local spirit. It should be entirely designed taking into consideration the
identity of the place, the construction traditions, local materials, artisan crafts and
the local living habits (contemporary, not nostalgic).
20

WHERE TO LOCATE
PEOPLE
IN THE
WORLD
IN THE
CITY
position requirements
located centrally
or in an animated mixed-use community
*but out (or partly out) of
city’s main touristic routes
in an easy reach to the main
transportation nodes
in the satelite cities, where most of the
work-commuters come from
proximity of a public park
or own garden possibility
21

possible locations
abandoned buildings destined
for residential or hospitality use
ex-hotel buildings
(affected by Airbnb disruption)
renewal of the existing
obsolete residential stock
vacant spots
post-demolition spots
22

ECONOMICAL SCHEME
pre-launch policy
investment
after launching
after gaining momentum
realization phase
physical construction
digital construction
positive side effects
running phase
physical administration
digital administration
24

Since housing is a highly complex system that only works in interaction with
different actors, for an introduction of a new type of socially housing, especially
one that works on an international level, the market requires the cooperation of
landowners, financing banks, architects and urban planners, the construction
industry and the local municipalities. Political and administrative framework
conditions, such as tax legislation, building and tenancy law, monument protection
regulations and funding programs, have a significant impact on investment
activities. All of those stakeholder groups have a common interest in the land use
of the city and must agree on a shared housing program.
Since the proposed type of housing is beneficial for the cities, the government
has to favor the construction of them by either comissioning the construction of
those house to third parties, either coming to an agreement with the banks to have
a lower interest rates that favor the investment in that type of construction. The
house is meant to be a catalyst for the sharing economy and transactional relations
between the residents and the city, and thus it may become the first model of
social housing that is also profitable and self-sufficient and autonomous in terms
of its maintenance. The construction (and reconstruction of the existing stock)
will involve additional resources and workforce, thus opening new possibilities
for the local construction, material and other supplier companies, opening new
workplaces. Same regards to the workplaces needed for the construction of the
digital infrastructure that has to be the backbone of the houses in the network.
So on the first phase of the global network launch those type of houses should
be constructed mainly by the government, private investors or corporations and
cooperatives of ineterested residents. After gaining its critical mass, the new
houses of the network would be ideally crowdfunded by the residents themselves.
Of course with the government still providing a substantial support.
Since those type of dwellings are places of transit like
airports or train-stations, they have to become places
of a special economic and legal zone, with their own tax
regulations and law regulations, that would consider
and favor the sustainable sharing.
23

FLEXIBIITY AND TIME-SAVING
The millennial housing is a residential building where one has access to a variety
of facilities, and at the same time one doesn’t own anything at all.
The flexibility is understood as the freedom of not
spending time on things that distract the user from its
main focus.
In particular, this means a system of certain algorithms to comodify the living.
The nomad transfers to a new location for X time. Finding a temporary
accommodation is a matter of some clicks. The price is affordable in general, and
one choses from the subscription plans adapted for different situations.
Thus one that plans to stay for a long period can become a permanent (stays longer
than 1 year) or guest dweller (stays for a couple of months) - the price for the
accommodation will be at its lowest, the dweller will become to his disposition a
room with a large system for storing things and will be able to monetize his room
while under-used, by making the whole space or a part of it available for rent for
a certain amount of time (can be a longer period, can be just a couple of hours).
For those who work in one location and live in another one or have to return
constantly to the same place there is the “returning guest” subscription plan. The
returning guest knows he always has his place to return with his possessions safely
stored while being absent. This allows to travel light and having everything needed
right upon the arrival. The price for him is low because his room is always available
during his absence.
For those who won’t stay long there are the transient-overnight and supertransient
plans. In this case the accommodation costs slightly more (but anyway much less
than a traditional hotel or autonomous Airbnb listing). The overnight-traveller
gets in his disposition a room - size varies according to the listings available. The
superransient one can get a small space for taking a rest for a couple of hours
or simply get a storage space for his luggage. He has access to all the facilities
available at the house, some of which are included in the price, some of which can
be unlocked for a certain price.
For those who prefer the absolute freedom of movement there is the perfect
nomad subscription which has the highest price and gives the most possibilities.
25

Any subscription plan gives a certain amount of points to spend on in-house
transactions.
The locations are equipped with everything needed, the possessions to take with
oneself/to buy on coming can be brought to a minimum. Places for storing the
personal possessions are located as in the private living units for those who are
permanent or long-term users, as also in the public areas, which allows to travel
light, to have the own stuff on return and to convert the under-used spaces into
a profitable asset - the profit gained can be monetized or can be converted into
points. A certain (very low) percentage from every transaction is deducted for the
maintanance and running of the locations.
Further points can be acquired by gaining positive reviews, providing some
services (helping put with the household work, organizing shared events like
meals or cinema screenings) or simply by adding some sum to the own account.
A vast network of “like-minded” poeople form different life tracks is included -
priceless!
Every member of the network (dweller or someone from outside who is available
to provide some services) is connected through the app and can get information
on what’s on in the given moment in the given location, one can outsource the
household work that needs to be done, or book some spaces for meetings, join to
events happening in-house, such as communal dinners, cinema screenings etc. All
the in-house relations become transformed into transactions (free or paid). All the
transactions are being fullfilled inside of the app interface thus the users don’t have
to deal with the material part of the transaction face to face.
Unpredicted situations, social rules and reviews. Living with the others can
provoke many situations that would require regulation. By joining the network
one agrees to respect the given rules. The unpredicted situations/conflicts are
resolved in the same logic as the blockchains work. The situation is immediately
sent to the network where it gets assessed by randomly chosen users from other
locations. Anonimity is preserved, situations resolved in-house, solutions go from
low reviews to reduction of one’s points and fees. The cases go archived and the
solutions become the new norm.
Similarly, decisions on maintanance, design and construction of a new location are
taken collectively, the finances are crowdfunded, the design process is participative,
the work is delegated to the chosen managerial team which outsources all the
processes to run the current projects and realize the new constructions.
26

27

28

Shanghai
A PRETTY VACANT SPOT
the
plot
The case study in Shanghai is to be taken as a model for the “New World”. The
chosen location is a vacant plot in the former “International(British) Settlement”.
The area is centrally located, but at the same time it is not on the most crowded
and busy road. It is close to the confluence of Huangpu river (comparable with
the Canal Grande) and the Suzhou Creek (comparable with its importance and
relative size with the Cannaregio canal).
The site has the Huangpu park in its proximity, it is close to the Nanjing East Rd
metro station, to the Bund, which is the most important promenade of Shanghai
and it is also quite close to the Nanjing road - the most important pedestrian and
commercial road. In the immediate vicinity to the plot there are a lot of restaurants,
shops, public services and in general everything a resident could need.
The surroundings of the plot consist of buildings of the British concession epoque
(oriental art-deco and eclectism of the period), traditional Shanghai lilong housing
(two storey alleyhouses), and buildings of dubbious architectural and cultural
quality, that are being rapidly replaced with buildings with even more dubbious
image. The plot is interesting, because it is the only one that has been built and
rebuilt all over again since the 1920s and for all the coming years, eventually
becoming empty and occupied with a parking.
29
f2 - WWII period archive photograph of the International Settlement with the project plot in the right lower corner
On the right - author’s photographs from the site survey

30

Venice
PALAZZO FOR SALE
Cannaregio
Palazzo Priuli Manfrin
f1
The choice of the site in Venice was quite immediate. What happens in a city that
loses its population and gets more and more visitors? Houses get abandoned by
the locals, houses finish at the real estate market, they get sold and transformed
into hotels or similar. So the author went on Google and searched for a palazzo
for sale.
Palazzo Priuli Manfrin - a splendid building in Cannaregio, close to the Ponte
delle Guglie and the railway station, abandoned already for 20 years, currently on
sale for receiptive-residential transformation and use and strangely with not too
many modification restrictions. Bingo!
The building is chosen as a case study for an approach which could be replicated
in the historical city contexts. It meets all the requirements that a millennial social
housing in the “Old World” should have. First of all, it has a convenient location
(Santa Lucia station in 10mins, Guglie ferry stop right across the canal, Piazza
San Marco in 15 mins) in the heart of Cannaregio. It even meets a requirement
that is not so easy to obtain in Venice: the proximity of a public park. Indeed,
Palazzo Priuli Manfrin serves(could serve if in use) as a mediator between the
lively Cannaregio canal road full of tourists at any time of the day and the Parco
Savorgnan on the other side, where the locals of all ages tend to come.
31
f1 - the facade of the Palazzo Priuli Venier Manfrin.
On the right - author’s photographs from the site survey

32

GAINING THE CRITICAL MASS
ferry-boat stop
tourists flow
local-residential
Parco Savorgnan
Cannaregio
Grand Canal
train station
Venice illustrates how the network
would work on the micro-level.The
first milestone would be the opening
of the first location. For that one the
Palazzo Manfrin in Canareggio is
chosen. Currently for sale, it has a
suitable location: central and close to
the station, on the border of tourist
and resident routes, a park nearby
which for Venice is something rare.
MICRO LEVEL
abandoned,
vacant plot
abandoned
palazzo for sale
ex-hostel for sale
(underutilized
historical palazzo)
Parco Piraghetto
Mestre Station
Marghera
After the successful launch the
network should expand to cover
more locations in the historical
center - buildings which are
currently abbandoned and for sale
for receptive or residential use
are the places where to locate the
houses. The network also expands
on the adjacent islands, mainly
Lido, Murano and Giudecca, which
are also places where currently
many tourists stay. It expands also
to Mestre.
The connection Venice-Mestre
is the third milestone. This is the
place from where most of the daily
commuters for work come and
go. Having a house there would
facilitate thei routine of those who
move inbetween the islands and the
mainland.
The next big milestone is gaining
enough critical mass to cover
also some other cities from where
the commuters come, like Padua
for example. The main goal is to
have enough locations which are
really needed to be able to think of
conquering the Lagoon.
35

Shanghai illustrates the growth of the
network on the macro-level. The first
important milestone for the network
would be the first launch in China.
This will imply a set of agreements
and new legislations approved by
the local government. As the first
pilot project location a vacant plot
in the central area in Shanghai in the
former International Settlement is
chosen.
The next step would be to cover with
the network all the main cities in the
mainland China: Beijing, Shanghai,
Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou,
Suzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou,
Shenzhen and so on.
As next step in every city all the
important city districts should be
covered by the network houses,
ensuring that the supply is enough
to cover the most of the demand in
the most viable city points. After
that the network should continue
expanding towards the periferies and
connecting the cities with the areas,
from where the most of the urban
commuters and migrant workers
come from. This means passing to
the next step: covering the rural
areas and small satelite cities around
the main ones, in order to keep in the
big cities the population limit set by
the government and to redistribute
the people on the territory.
In such way the network will gain
enough critical mass and balance.
MACRO LEVEL
36

THE PERFECT BALANCE
MICRO LEVEL
The ultimate goal is the state of the perfect balance.
With locations distributed in the historical center, on the islands and on the
mainland, the network can do its final step: conquer the islands of the Lagoon that
were formerly one of the main factors of growth and splendor of Venice, but now
are experiencing devastation and decline.
Supplied with the accommodation that is needed for them to live and work
comfortably, the residents of the network may feel the demand for something
outstanding and new. The locations in the Lagoon islands, such as Torcello and
Mazzorbetto, that are drafted to be the first steps in revitalizing the small islands,
can become some sort of tranquille refuges who want to escape the routine and
the urban rush in search of some mental peace. The in-flow of new people eager to
know, to see and to spend will help those areas to wake up and to recover.
37

ghost towns planned
MACRO LEVEL
The ultimate goal in this case would be bringing people not only back to the
rural districts by providing autonomous self-sufficient housing from where they
could work and lead an experience-based lifestyle, but also populating the cities,
which were built with the coming growth of the population in mind, but did not
become inhabited, simply because people didn’t move there. Those ghost cities
are now covering extensive territories of China, and it is also the case of many
other emerging economies (maybe not to that extreme). Such cities in China are
the Chenggong, Zhengdong, Dantu and Ordos. Moreover, the government now is
actively planning the construction of the Xiong’an - the biggest of the cities that
will be built from scratch in the coming decade.
The critical mass that the network will gain by that time and the transportation
infrastructure which is developing extremely fast will allow to redistribute the
population in a more balanced and sustainable way.
38

“Just like modernization – of which it is part
– preservation was a western invention.
But with the waning of western power, it is
no longer in the West’s hands. We are no
longer the ones that define its values. The
world needs a new system mediating between
preservation and development. Could
there be the equivalent of carbon trading
in modernization? Could one modernizing
nation ‘pay’ another nation not to change?
Could backwardness become a resource,
like Costa Rica’s rainforest? Should China
save Venice?”.
39
excerpts frm Cronocaos, Rem Koolhaas

CHAPTER 2
How a Palazzo in Venice
got transformed
f3
40

HOW THE OWNERS CHANGED
and how they changed the building
XV century
The antique palazzo belonging to Pesaro family is built
1457
Priuli family inherits the building.
1585
Daniele Priuli, the owner by that time,
starts the building’s first reconstruction,
in order to adapt it to his social status.
1708-1710
The conglomerate of buildings gets by the time
more or less today’s dimensions and its disposition of spaces
around a central court
1723
Giovanni Priuli becoms the attorney of San Marco
and decides to reconstruct the building again
The discontinuous facade looking to Cannaregio
gets replaced with a new facade from Istria marble,
designed by the architect Andrea Tirali. At the same time period the
building’s monumental staircase gets designed by Bernardo Macaruzzi.
1787
The last inheritor of Priuli family, Elena Priuli Venier,
leaves the building to her children.
They sell the building (in very bad conditions)
to the famous tobacco industry merchant Girolamo Manfrin.
1787-1791
the bookmark is placed here
G.Manfrin starts a big scale reconstruction process.
The interior of the building gets his rich decorations.
The owner fills the house with his art collection, the second most important
in Venice after the Academy Gallery’s collection.
This is the period of most splendor and fame of the palazzo.
The first two floors of the building with the more representative, high ceilings
rooms, were designated for receiving guests, and the third floor with the low
ceilings was the place where the hosts living quarters were located.
XVIII-XIX cc.
The collection of G.Manfrin slowly gets sold by its inheritors. The building
gets in bad conditions again.
41
f3 - ceiling frescoe of one of the rooms of Palazzo Priuli Manfrin

Palazzo Priuli Venier Manfrin
1897
The building gets sold to the Provincia Italiana della Società del Sacro Cuore.
It gets becomes the administrative office of a femminine institute.
The change of use from a residential building to an office brought
numerous changes not only in the disposition and division of the spaces, but
also in their outer decoration, since its rich ornamentation was against the
sober and ascetic philosophy of the institution.
16 August 1916
Venice gets bombed by Austro-German airforces.
One of the bombs gets into the building, crashes the roof through,
reaches the second floor and stops there.
Today in the building there is a memorial plate
on the exact place in the pavement, which tells:
“here felt the enemy’s bomb in the night of 16th August 1916.
1945
The building served as a storage for food, and was guarded by the church
representatives.
Later, for a short time it even became a prison for German officials.
1968-69
The building is bought by A.C.N.I.L (Azienda Comunale di Navigazione
Interna Lagunare, today’s ACTV) and transformed into an office.
1998
The building gets alienated and passes to Comune di Venezia and
later to Regione del Veneto. From that time on it stays empty.
2014
Sold to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Investments Bank
and is currently on sale with a destinated use
as a residential building or a tourist receptive facility.
Unaccessible for any visits. In a state of sad decay.
42

STRATEGY
a piece of a city in the city
private/domestic
public/urban
43

Palazzo Priuli Venier Manfrin has had a long and rich history, it has changed
owners and its use many times, it has xperienced a lot of alterations ever since it
was built and eventually it got its current state of abandon and decay.
The bookmark for the “authentic” state of the building is placed to the end of the
18th century when the structure lived its most glorious days. The later alterations
and additions are inspected and where possible are to be removed.
After freeing the structure from all the additions that were mainly done to convert
the house into an office and altered the character of the spaces, the approach is to
convert the building for the new millennial-residential use with minimal additions
that all are reversable and have a temporary character. With the constant
change of its users and uses, the building should be tailored for quick and easy
transformations in time. At the same time the intervention doesn’t have the scope
to be a modest background for the original building. All the added elements are
easily recognizable and quite notable in their “newness” of material or form,
thus creating a contemporary counterbalance the “old”.
The conversion strategy first of all shifts the margin between the urban-public
and domestic-private from entrance of the residential building up to the door
of every single unit. All the spaces outside of one’s own door become the
continuation of the city and are shared with the others in various modes. The
original structure of the building is seen as the natural landscape of the city
where singular pieces of architecture are to be placed.
In the mood of the surrounding city of Venice, the monotony and repetition are
avoided, even while having a series of similar living units. The location of every
living unit in the apartment can be found by wordly description of its immediate
surroundings and doesn’t need numbers on the entrance door. The resemblance
to a residential building or a hotel is vague, the publicness takes over the
domestic. The working palette consists of carefully selected local traditional
materials (marble, brass, bronze, mosaics) mixed with contemporary ones
(policarbonate, gfr beams, vinyl floor coverings) that allow the maximal flexibility
and change. The furnishing is a mix of the Italian design pieces, international
design pieces proven timeless and universal, and systems designed specifically for
the project and to be implemented by the local artisans. The two polar references
for the design of the spaces are the moment right before the craftsmanship gave
place to the convenience of globalization - years 50-70 from one side, and a work
in progress construction site on the other. The result is contemporary/atemporal.
44

BACK TO THE BOOKMARK
Demolitions
Ground Floor
Second Floor
45
M1:500

N
Mezzanine
First Floor
Third Floor
Attic
46

New Constructions
Ground Floor
Second Floor
47
M1:500

N
Mezzanine
First Floor
Third Floor
Attic
48

Ground Floor
N
0 1 2 5m

The entrance area of the house
becomes a space of transit and
has more similarities with a train
station, airport and post office,
than with a common residential
building entrance.
Arrivals & departures area
50

Contents
summer terrace
2.
9.
storage
laundry
&
gamesroom
storage
10.
12.
summer
kitchen
8.
wc
bar
sitting
area
1.
internal
courtyard
11****.
the
dark
room
barkitchen
4.
wc
bar
tech.
room
room for
exchange
arrivals
&
departures
5**. 6***. 7.
delivery pick-up
&
luggage storage
51
* night garden - a hidden garden space, shared with the adjacent school. accessible only after all the evening lectures are over
** room for exchange - free room for rent for exhibitions/events
*** arrivals and departures area - space for getting a first impression, for acclimatization, for waiting and transit

Open Air Spaces
1.
2.
3.
Urban-Domestic Spaces
5.
7.
4.
6.
night
garden*
3.
Super-Domestic Spaces
8.
9.
10.
11. 12.
**** the dark room - no one knows what the functions is
52

In general, the program is organized according to the capacity of the original
spaces to accommodate it. Thus, the spaces, that previously, when Palazzo Priuli
Manfrin served as a family home, had more public and servant functons,were all
located on the ground and first floors. Those spaces become now some sort of
social condensers. Moreover, there are a couple of rooms in the building which
have frescoes on the ceiling. These rooms are all kept for common areas, thus
remain accessible to the public.
On the ground floor the whole access area gets transformed into a liquid space of
transition. It serves for arrivals, departures, getting information and for distribution.
The main intervention in this area is the addition of a light metal structure, that
carries the illumination system and information screens. Both lateral naves are
transformed into a waiting area by the addition of long, continuous seating system.
On the sides of the main entrance hall there is a self-storage and delivery pickup
area and on the left there are a bar-restaurant connected to the internal courtyard,
and a room for exchange, which is used for showcasing products, temporary
exhibitions and anything else. For all the spaces the approach is to keep the original
walls intact and to work instead on the center of the room, thus saving the original
form of the rooms.
The access to the upper levels is achieved by two existing staircases (one
monumental staircase at the entrance and one servant staircase on the back of the
building), as well as by inserting an elevator in the former servant staircase well
as well as by attaching an elevator-tower on the back side of the building in the
place of a late years added two-storey storage space, which did not represent any
architectural value. The tower-elevator solves also the problem of unaccessibility of
the mezzanine floor and the attic, which are disconnedted from the other interior
elevator. The question of accessibility for the disabled people on the ground floor is
adressed by adding where needed temporary metal ramps, which are applied over
the existing marble stairs without destroying them.
The former servant spaces on the ground floor are used for a laundry with a play
area, storage spaces and a communal kitchen with access to the terrace with the
well, that faces the Parco Savorgnan. The room that leads to the small garden
which is shared with the neighbouring palazzo housing a school, is defined as a
dark room and is a free and silent space for those who may need some isolation.
The garden opens its doors for the inhabitants only after the lectures in the school
are over and the students are out.
53

The mezzanine level comprises of two disconnected areas, one is served by the
monumental original staircase and the new elevator, the other one by the elevatortower
and its adjacent stair. The first part gets transformed into a small screeningroom
with an adjacent mini-kitchen and a storage. The second part becomes a
communal tools workshop, as well as has a communal room with its own bathroom
used mainly by the people who work in the building but are not its inhabitants.
Again, the main elements the project works with are light metal structures,
platforms containing infrastructure and aimed on saving the original floors from
destructions and light-weight sound isolated partitions (solid or semi-transparent,
depending on the room).
54

Mezzanine
N
0 1 2 5m
55

Contents
tools
workshop
3.
storage
4.
5.
storage
1.
movies
room
common
room
2.
Urban-Domestic Spaces
1.
Super-Domestic Spaces
2.
3.
4.
5.
56

First Floor
N
0 1 2 5m
57

The ex-music hall - the most
interesting space of the building
from architectural and historical
point of view, gets transformed
into a coworking room by adding
a couple of “work islands” (slightly
elevated platforms containing
all the wireing) and illuminated
metal light structures defining the
volumes.
Coworking room - ex-music hall 58

Contents
6.
transient
living
4.
common
space
7.
permanent
living
8.
permanent
living
tech-lab
permanent
living
3.
wc
2.
2.
communal
kitchen
brainstorming
masterclasses
co-working
confidential
talks
2.
5*.
room for
rituals
1.
59
* room for rituals - simly talking - a communal kitchen and dining room

The communal table is a
policarbonate semi-oval structure
inspired by he tradition of
Venetian feasts the 18th c. (see
Pietro Longhi painting “Convitto
in casa Nani alla Giudecca”, 1755).
Room for rituals (communal kitchen & dining area). 60

Open Air Spaces
1.
Urban-Domestic Spaces
Super-Domestic Spaces
3.
4.
2.
5.
Living
6.
7.
8.
9.
The first floor is the most crowded and most actively used one. Here the biggest
concentration of people happens in the coworking area and flees also to its lateral
rooms which are used as meeting, masterclass, lectures rooms. Those are used by
the users of the main co-working hall, but can also be booked for special activities
with a restricted access.
One of the lateral rooms in the left wing serves as a tech lab with printing and
similar typography facilities. All the services are accessible through the home app
and require access using the personal code. The space next to the elevator-tower
serves as a coffee- and break point. On its side there is a more quite room with
some workspaces as well as three super-transient cells with their shared bathroom,
which is integrated in the space of the common hall. These cells represent simple
semitransparent box volumes and provide the traveller with a basic comfort - place
to keep the luggage, place to take a short rest/nap and a working desk.
61 60

Another place for daily encounters is the space where the inhabitants would cook
and have meals. It is defined as a room for rituals. It is defined as a super-domestic
one due to its restricted access. Here the meals are prepared to be shared with the
thers. All the meal-sharing activities (menu, participants, duties, spendings) are
also managed through the home-app.
Here the intervention is minimal: the portal that previously was dividing the space
in two separate office rooms is opened and framed with brass. The communal
table is a policarbonate semi-oval structure inspired by he tradition of Venetian
feasts the 18th c. (see Pietro Longhi painting “Convitto in casa Nani alla Giudecca”,
1755).
The living units all have different configurations - adapted to the buildings spaces.
In order not to destroy the feeling of spaciousness and the geometry of the original
rooms, the exntraces and the bathrooms are integrated in the large corridor spaces.
They are structures distinctive for their materials, colors and shapes.The partitions
where possible are kept solid only untill a certain level, after which they continue
in sound-proofed policarbonate, thus keeping the sense of unity of the rooms.
The second floor is the superdomestic one. Here there are 7 living units and three
transient cells. The inhabitants of this floor share a communal space of the kitchen,
a lounge area next to the elevator tower and the balcony area over the coworking.
The living units are designed taking into consideration that the room-owners
might want to let some part of their spaces for rent for overnight or transient
guests. They comprise of one or two rooms each with its private bathroom. This
allows to let a part of the apartment as an autonomous unit. The room owner
can let his room/a part of it for a long- or short term or for just a couple of hours
during the day. Moreover, the room-owner can be away or can live in the same
space and share the entrance area and some other spots.
Most of the living units have a podium part connected directly with the bathroom,
which is also elevated for technical reasons. This vertical division allows for diverse
use of the room. Some more privacy is achieved by separating the “stage” from the
rest of the room by a curtain - in situations where the goal is visual closure, or
by a movable partition (mirrored or policarbonate), when one space needs to be
isolated from the other (say the room owner wants to let just a part of the room
and the bathroom, while keeping his sleeping area with all the stuff safely isolated.
61
62

Second Floor
N
0 1 2 5m
63

The walls of the living units
are kept solid just to a certain
height and later on continue with
policarbonate. This allows to
perceive the spaced of the original
palazzo as a whole, even though
fragmented by the new corridorliving
unit division.
Basic living unit
64

Contents
4.
transient
living
2.
common
space
11.
living
unit
10.
living
unit
6.
3.
minikitchen
9.
living
unit
living
unit
1.
8.
living
unit
5.
living
unit
7.
living
unit
65

6.
Super-Domestic Spaces
1. 2. 3.
Living
4.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
66

67
Visual division

The partition which allows the
separation of the room into a part
immediately connected to the
entrance and a part to be “kept
off from strangers” is done in
mirrored foldable panels, where
the ceiling profile is ornamental.
Thus even dividing the space,
it visually keeps its original
geometry.
Physical separation
68

1.
2.
3.
4.
1. curtain open, partition closed
2. curtain open, partition semi-opened
3. everything open
4. curtain closed, partition stacked to a side
69

Basic living unit 70

Third Floor
N
0 1 2 5m
71

Some of the living units have a
little kitchenette incorporated into
the entrance wall. The kitchenette
has wooden foldable shutters and
is extremely compact as when
open, as well when closed. The
height of the podium is used as
additional space for storage.
Living uni t with a kitchenette 72

Contents
5.
6.
living
unit
living
unit
1.
common
space
10.
living
unit
7.
11.
living
unit
living
unit
8.
living
unit
2.
smoking
room
4.
communal
living room
9.
3.
living
unit
room
for kids
73

The surface over the bathroom
and the entrance block can be
used by the permanent dwellers as
an additional surface for storing
things, that are used not very
frequently.
Living uni t with a kitchenette
74

Super-Domestic Spaces
Living
1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
75

8.
Living uni t with a kitchenette. States 76

The common area on the third
floor is a residual space that is left
after the insertion of the bathroom
units in the free space of the
corridor. Thanks to the particular
shape and color of these, the
common area is not prive of its
distinctive character, and the
insertion of the mini-kitchen
block even strenghtens it.
77
Common area with a mini-kitchen

The former large corridors now
have blocks, which contain the
entrances amd services of the
living units. These inserions
being distinctively new, low
and slightly detached, allow the
comprehension of the originial
spaces of the palazzo. They are
also diversified among themselves
for facilitating the memorization.
Corridor
78

Attic
N
0 1 2 5m
79

Contents
4. 3*
librarystudy
room
Living
2.
living
unit
1.
living
unit
Open-Air Spaces
On the back side of the building, quite
hidden behind the large trees of the park
there is the only addition to the exterior
of the palazzo - the elevator tower and the
staircase box. Here, as in many places in the
interior, the materials are policarbonate and
brass. The tower is deliberately mute and
monolith, with a sculptural stair hanged on
it and indicating there is something going
on on the top.
3. rooftop terrace
(over the staircase box)
Super-Domestic Spaces
4. library&study room
80

The staircase on the back is
continued one more level to
serve also the attic with its study
room and other two living units.
On the top of it there is a small
rooftop terrace, accessible from
the elevator tower and an external
staircase. The terrace and the stair
allow a view to the park and the
Campo San Geremia. Woooah!
81
Rooftop terrace

82

The Front Stage
85
M1:200

Moving
M1:200

22.400
17.650
14.400
9.700
4.500
1.750 1.750
-0.450
-0.450

Coming together
89
M1:200

14.400
9.700
4.500
0.600
±0.000
90

Living
91
M1:200

17.650
14.400
9.700
4.500
1.750
-0.450
92

The Backstage
93
M1:200

94

95

CHAPTER 3
How to move from Venice to Shanghai
in one day
96

STRATEGY
a piece of a city in the city
public/urban
private/domestic
97

The location of the plot chosen as a model for Shanghai (and, by extension, for
the rest of the “new world”) is exemplary. In the cities that expand irresponsibly
with a schizophrenic speed, for a successful implementation of millennial social
housing scheme it is important to find some grips to attach it to the city. Having
the goal of catalyzing the “local”, those interventions should be placed in spots
that still keep the identity of the city.
The International Settlement is one of the places, which best express Shanghai’s
cosmopolitan spirit. It is a place where foreigners historically lived alongside the
locals and interracted with each other on daily basis. Thus the area has already in
its genetical code the openness to diversity and cultural exchange.
The layout of the area has little changed since its first occupation and the
architecture is a mix of Western styles in a free Asian interpretation. The district
consists of public buildings of the British and American concessions period and
very interesting from the architectural point of view (many of them are protected by
law), from typical lilong alleyway houses of the same time, and from post-war and
communist revolution period mid-rise buildings of a low quality and in different
states of decay. The lilongs and the mid-rises are now actively being demolished
and give place to the other category: the skyscrapers (there is a particularly ugly
one right in front of the plot). As regards the traditional lilongs, currently their
demolition is slowing up, due to the understanding of their attractiveness for local
and global tourists. (This in many cases means they still are being demolished, but
later are reconstructed in a pseudo-historical average mode, totally adapted for
commercial use).
The plot by itself is now used for parking. Looking to the historical maps it is
interesting to note that from all of the surrounding plots it is the only one that
had problems in taking a consistent shape during the time. It has been always
constructed in a fragmented way and was being rebuilt again and again almost
every decade.
A photograph from an Airbnb listing close to the area shows perfectly the current
situation with the housing in Shanghai. It contains remains of every period in the
city’s history of the last century and is quite heterogenous, if not to tell chaotic.
Moreover, looking at any view of the city one can note a couple of construction
site is working progress.
So how to design a building in such a hypercontext of a constant change?
98

f4
The strategy is to design a building which is easy to deal with during the time.
This means that it needs to be easy and quick to construct, it should be cheap and
consist of as many ready-made elements as possible. And so it needs to be easy
also to change and to recycle during the time. This impacts the design in every
aspect.
The building has a series of features that dialogue with the city. If in the case of
Venice all the new interventions tended to be diversified one from the other and
became some sort of anchors to memorize the places, and the collective spaces
were rather domestic, “slow”, with only some occasional points of “rush”, Shanghai
is completely the opposite. Here the spaces are designed as places of transition, of
high velocity, with only some occasional corners of tranquility and slow down.
The elements are kept simple, regular and are often repetitive, getting interest
only when seeing as a whole, which is again a feature common to China and to
Shanghai in particular.
The living units are a contemporary interpretation of lilong houses. They are two
storey dwellings with their own private gardens (loggias) and their intermediary
filter spaces between the entrance of the house and the alleys - the common spaces.
99
f4 - a whole range of residential typologies present in Shanghai (author’s photograph)

The building is a compact square box. This allows for a certain indifference and
closure to the immediate context and lets to focus on the inner self and create a
unique microcosm, which is something common for almost all types of collective
dwelligs. Still, not to detach the building completely from its surroundings, there
is an exception made on the north side: it is rotated to become parallel to the main
street and to give continuity the streetfront facing it.
The building is composed of its habitable core and the outer “cage” which is placed
with some distance and rersults a narrow treshhold sace turning around the
building. This is a space where the inside and the outside worlds slightly blend and
where the unusual scenatios can take place.
100

Ground Floor

0 1 2 5m
N

main road
North
entrance
delivery, sorting, pick up
and self storage
coffee!
city bike parking
goods loading
linear garden
103

coffee!
sunken square
city center direction
Lower South
entrance
South
entrance
carsharing
car charging
parking access
105 104

storage
tech.room
parking
tech.room
storage
Parking level
Thanks to the compact shape of the building it became possible to occupy just a
part of the plot and to keep the rest for the city. On the South side of the building a
sunken square is organized to provide a public space prive of the frenetic agitation
of the street level. The square is accessed by stairs from one side and a long ramp,
which starts on the North of the building and proceeds all along its East side.
The building is accessible for pedestrians from the North (level of the street) and
the South (both from the level of the street and the sunken square).
On bike people can reach the building using the bike roads of the city and then
storing the bikes under the portico of the building, in the bike parking on its West
side.
For cars there is a small underground parking (considering that the millennial
social housing promotes carsharing, the number of parking posts is kept minimal
- 40 spots for the total 200 residents. The parking is accessible from the Southwest.
On the same side, next to the parking ramp, a street provides immediate access to
the ground level. This is used to access the car-charging point and as a waiting area
for the carsharing vehicles.
105

- Airport? Amazon storage?
A factory assembly line?
- 21st century schizoid house.
Arrivals & departures area
106

f5

the outer world
the outer world
the treshhold stripe
the voyerist staircase
construction
site
the glass
tower
public square
the “rue interieur”
the “proscenium” space
the hidden staircase
the habitable core
the “rue interieur”
the treshhold stripe
the treshhold stripe
the “megaron”
the “proscenium” space
building block 1
the dark street
private gardens
the “rue interieur”
the crowded staircase
the “rue interieur”
the boring staircase
public square
the “rue interieur”
the “proscenium” space
building block 1
the “proscenium” space
building
block 2
the treshhold stripe
the treshhold stripe
private gardens
the treshhold stripe
the outer world
109
the outer world

Considering the amounts and the frequency of ordering products online on the
Chinese market, an immense attention is given to organizing the logistics of delivery
and self pickup of the goods. Today the situation is funny: the delivery services
work amazingly fast and precise, although the methods used seem outdated and
not automated. The pickup is another story - the products get delivered to the
workplaces or to the apartment front doors - a pile of boxes waiting to be sorted
by the recipients. Currently this works. But the further it goes the harder it will get
to deal with this chaos.
Thus the whole level 0 is dedicated to the delivery, pick up and self-storage. This
place is used not only by the residents of the house but also by the residents of the
neighbourhood and those who work nearby. The road on the Southwest side of the
building leads further to the area of unloading the goods. Here the courriers come
with their choppers, motorbikes and bikes and load the goods to the sorting line,
which brings the packs down and distributes further to the storage boxes.
When entering from the North one has the possibility to go up or down taking the
stair or the elevator. Same from the South side - those who enter from the lower
level have to cross the big hall and take the stair or the elevator. Those who enter
from the street level can either go to the elevators area, or can take the lateral stair.
This is one of the objects placed in the treshhold between the habitable core and
the outer cage. It connects the first few levels and offers a sequence of views to the
dwelling. Taking this stair is like observing a series of activities happening in the
dwelling from distance, from a “rear window”.
f6
f5 - a whole range of residential typologies present in Shanghai (author’s photograph)
f6 - a shot from Hitchcock’s “Rear window”
110

Co-working level
N
0 1 2 5m
111

On the contrary to the lateral
“voyerist” staircase, using the
staircase in the main hall gives
a sensation of being a part of
everythig that happens in the
house. This is a place where people
meet, exchange greetings, stop for
small talks. It is a place to see and
to be seen.
Main hall - coworking space 112

Taking the stair one gets to the main hall. Again, as in the case of Venice, it is
used for coworking and is the most crowded place of the house - the place which
never sleeps. The living units and other facilities organized are organized around
the main hall with their galleries facing it. The change of the railing material from
the “construction site” (metal mesh) to the “traditional” (wood) indicates the
transition from the more urban to the more domestic.
The living units are seen as traditional lilong houses - dwelling organized in a
row with an alley in front of them. As in the lilongs, here also every living unit
has its own private intermediate space between the “street” and the dwelling. This
space is achieved by adding in front of every unit a platform, large enough to
become usable. This space can be used as a prolongation of the entrance hall of
the apartment, as an additional storage space, but first of all as a workspace or a
living room - an asset that can be monetized easily. For instance, the inhabitants
which have their units facing the coworking level and its mezzanine can provide
an additional fixed desk for other or can have it for their own.
For most convenience and for a possible desire of privacy, there is a metal mesh
curtain hanged at the edge of this “proscenium”. When closed, the space gets
hidden from the strangers’ eyes.
1. 2.
1. curtain closed, doors closed,
glass panels closed, ladder folded
2. curtain open, doors open,
glass panels stacked to a side, ladder unfolded
113

The feeling of transition between
the urban-public and the domestic
private here is achieved again due
to the hybrid use of materials: neon,
textured glass, metal mesh, vinyl
and acid colors in the common
areas change into ceramics (of
local production, ideally - recycled
from somewhere), bronze, wood
and paint in traditional colors.
Living unit seen from the coworking hall
114

115
The proscenium in its open state,
coworking - fragmented into rooms

In the same way as the living units
can be isolated with curtains, some
areas of the coworking hall can be
temporarily isolated by folding
semitransparent partitions. This
allows for a diversified use of
space such as organizing events,
workshops, mastercasses etc.
The proscenium closed,
coworking as one united space
116

Contents
garden
wc
wc
wc
wc
tech-lab
brainstorming
co-working
silent-hubs
master-classes
living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit
117

Here, as in the case of Venice,
all the spaces are to be furnished
with objects of local design and
production, with the addition of
some universal design objects.
Coworking hall seen from the living unit “filter” space
118

Co-working mezzanine
N
0 1 2 5m
119

Contents
co-working
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
mini-kitchen
living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit
120

Foodcourt level
N
0 1 2 5m
121

The cells for the transient units
here as in Venice are organized
as semitransparent rooms which
share in three one bathroom unit.
The semi-transparency is imposed
for a certain amount of control
- this being a place of a constant
flow of different people for short
times.
A view from the permanent unit towards the transient block
122

Contents
foodcourt
wc
living
unit
transients
transients
transients
transients
transients
common space
living
unit
living
unit
mini-kitchen
living unit
living unit
living unit living unit living unit living unit
123

foodcourt
tech.room
transients
living units
living units tech.room
Foodcourt mezzanine
On the next level there comes another communal space, which is strictly dictated
by the local habits. If in the case of Venice the cooking and dining were seen almost
as a ritual, preparing the food in China is largely giving place to ordering it. Taking
the meal instead of being seen as something that makes people come together and
stay for some time, is seeen as an action to be performed quickly and with the
maximal commodity. Thus this space is served and becomes a sort of a foodcourt.
It has people who work here and has a capacity of serving not only the inhabitants
of the house, but also people who come to it to use its services (like the laundry or
coworking) or simply people who live or work in the neighbourhood.
For those who still need to cook someting from time to time there are minikitchens
on all levels. Those are equiped by everything needed to cook and to
store products.
Again, all the transactions are done through the home app.
On the foodcourt level there is the first block of transient units. They are facing the
permanent dwellers’ units behind the atrium, thus the guests can get an immage
of what the house of the “locals” is, and the locals from the other side can observe
all the coming-and-going of different travellers.
124

Laundry level
N
0 1 2 5m
125

Next is the most playfull level
of the house. Here there is a
bar with a huge terrace. On the
South facade which is completely
given to the “domestic” it is the
only public interruption. On the
opposite side of the atrium there
is the laundry which is combined
with games zone.
Laterally there are rows of living
units. In order to protect the
inhabitants from noise all the
rooms are shifted back from
the center and have bathrooms
and storage systems serving as
additional sound-proofing.
126

Contents
laundry&
gamezone
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
bar
living
unit
barterrace
living unit
living unit
127

Next to the most funny level there comes the most boring one. It consists of a
series of row “houses” disposed around the central court and a “silent” room for
study. A stripe of common spaces passes in front of the South block and serves as
a dining area, cooking place and a communal living room. Also on this block the
permanent residents are mixed with the transients in order to bring some activity
to the life of the floor.
The South living blocks are all similar and have quite simple organization. The
living space is practically one large room of a regular shape. Between the common
areas and the livable rooms there is the entrance corridor from one side, the
staircase to go to the upper level and a storage system with he bathroom block in
the middle. The upper level is quite similar to the lower one and can be accessed
also from the common space of its level. This allows for an autonomous use of the
rooms - meaning it can be also be let to other persons. Otherwise one of the rooms
can be used as a sleeping area and the other can be left free - for a living room, a
studio, a rehearsal room or a mini-office.
The living units disposed on the other sides of the building are organized on
one level and a bit differently, but anyway, with the same logic of protecting the
habitable space from the common space with the block of services.
All the rooms are not only protected from the interior “streets”, but are also
protected from the outside real streets by a loggia space. The side of the room
facing the loggia is a full foldaway frameless glass door, thus when the panels are
stacked to one side the space of the room gets united seamlessly with the space of
the loggia resulting in a larger room. The outer side of the loggia, the one in direct
contact with the outside is a folding door with a metal railing in front. This is
adding another flexibility to the space, allowing to use it as a closed aerated space,
as an open-air balcony.
The next two levels of the building start to have open air spaces for the public use.
The first level is the superdomestic one - it has the largest common use stripe and
is an attraction point for all the people living in the house. Here, on the South
wing, there is a large living lounge, the biggest communal kitchen and dining area
as well as a space for kids. Between the South and North wings there are two
playgrounds of different character.
On the next level over the common stripe there is a large rooftop garden. It is
connected with the North wing with a lateral balcony suspended from the facade.
128

Boring level
N
0 1 2 5m
129

Contents
garden
living
unit
transient
living
common space
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
living
unit
common space
dining area
communal
kitchen
living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit
130

Superdomestic level
N
0 1 2 5m
131

Contents
library
& study room
wc
study-room
transient
living
transient
living
transient
living
open-air
playground
open-air
kids playground
space
for kids
communal
living room
communal
kitchen
living unit
living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit
132

Garden level
N
0 1 2 5m
133

Being the main space for meeting
and working, the atrium had to be
covered. It has a highly translucent
lightweight ETFE cushion roof
supported by steel structure
spreads connected to each other.
The foil cushions effectively
protect the the main hall and at
the same time provide a clear view
to the sky above.
Main hall cover seen from below
134

Contents
common space
living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit living unit
terrace- garden
living unit
living unit
living unit living unit living unit living unit
135

On the exterior the building
doesn’t reveal immediately its
being a dwelling. From some cells
of the facade cage one can glimpse
habitations, from some cuts one
can see public spaces such as a bar,
terraces and gardens. The others
reveal common spaces, study and
working halls etc.
136

Coming together
32.750
30.250
24.750
24.750
19.250
13.750
8.250
2.750
±0.000
-2.750
-5.500
0 1 2 5m
137

138

Moving
32.750
30.250
24.750
24.750
19.250
13.750
8.250
2.750
±0.000
-2.750
-5.500
0 1 2 5m
139

140

End of vol. III
P.S. The adopted design and aesthetical solutions are not meant to be imposed
all over the network but are mere illustration of some common principles.
The call is anyway for acting locally while thinking globally.

Vol.III
“The fun palace”
“Housing research”
“Of other spaces,
heterotopias.”
Cedric Price, Joan
Littlewood
The Drama Review,
1968, 12.3: 127-134.
Cedric Price, article in
Architectural Design
1971
Foucault, M.
Architecture,
mouvement, continuité,
5(1984), 46-49.
“CIAM: Die
Wohnung für das
Existenzminimum”
“The minimum
dwelling”
“Bauen, wohnen,
denken”.
Sigfried Giedion,
Frankfurt: Englert &
Schlosser, 1930.
Karel Teige
MIT press, 2002.
Heidegger M.
Universität
Liechtenstein, 2011
“Ins Leere gesprochen”
“Privacy and publicity:
modern architecture as
mass media”.
“Intimacy and Spectacle:
The Interiors of Adolf
Loos.”
Adolf Loos,
Рипол Классик, 1921.
Colomina Beatriz, with
texts by Loos Adolf & Le
Corbusier,
Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, 1996.
Colomina, Beatriz. AA
Files 20 (1990): 5-15.
“The un-private house”.
“Se Venezia muore”.
“Zero to one: Notes
on startups, or how to
build the future”.
Riley T.
New York : Museum of
Modern Art, 1999
Settis S.
Torino : Einaudi, 2014
Thiel P. A., Masters B.
Broadway Business,
2014

BIBLIO(SITO)GRAPHY
“Dogville”
“The rear window”
S, M, L, XL: Office
for Metropolitan
Architecture.
Lars von Trier, 2003
Alfred Hitchcock, 1954
Rem Koolhaas,
Bruce Mau
Taschen, 1997.
Life, Abstracted: Notes
on the Floor Plan
“L’architettura dei
luoghi domestici”.
Cronocaos
Pier Vittorio Aureli
Cornoldi A.,
Cappettato G.
Jaca Book, 1994
Rem Koolhaas,
Log, 2011, 21: 119-123.
Palazzo Priuli Manfrin -
Sale announcement,
“Invest in Italy
Real Estate”
Palazzo Priuli Manfrin -
Patrimonio Pubblico
Italia
“Architettura e
committenza nel primo
Settecento veneziano:
l’intervento di Andrea
Tirali in palazzo Priuli
Manfrin a Cannaregio
(1724-1731)”.
Farinati V.
Annali di Architettura,
1991, 3: 113-131.
“Shanghai homes:
Palimpsests of private
life.”
Jie Li
Columbia University
Press, 2014.
“Institutional
Change and Urban
Redevelopment
Process: A Case Study
of Changshoujie,
Shanghai.”
Ze Li & others
China City Planning
Review, 2014, 23.1.
“Property-led
redevelopment in
post-reform China: A
case study of Xintiandi
redevelopment project
in Shanghai”.
Shenjing He, Fulong Wu
Journal of Urban
Affairs, 2005, 27.1: 1-23.

FOR NOTES

Milano 2019