Brianza Plastica presents the book “Facciate Ventilate” (Ventilated Facades).
Vera Vaselli, Marketing Manager of Brianza Plastica introduced the themes of the day, quoting the French philosopher Bernard of Chartres, and stressing the importance of knowledge and the spreading of culture, intended as continuous construction by men throughout history. Brianza Plastic has always relied on its cultural and technical experience to develop its business, focusing on the training of specialists in the application of the product and the world of design. Dr Vaselli also remined those present that the Isotec System has played a leading role in the renovation and refurbishment of numerous buildings with high cultural significance for our country, such as the Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Marino, La Scala theatre and the Fabbrica del Vapore, just to name a few in Milan. To these has been recently added the Centrale dell’Acqua in Milan – the location that hosted this event – renovated and returned to the city a year ago in the form of a cultural space, open to the public.
The event was moderated by the architect, Donatella Bollani, and covered themes relating to architecture, with the presentation of the new book dedicated to ventilated facades written by Pasquale Cascella.
The new book “Facciate Ventilate – Elementi di Architettura” (Ventilated Facades – Architectural Elements)
The book “Facciate Ventilate” aims to promote greater knowledge of the ventilated facade, as a component of the building envelope system able to contribute greatly to energy efficiency, comfort, and if the conditions are met, to architectural renewal, in the case of redevelopment of existing buildings.
An analysis and study of the different types of architecture developed in different historical periods in response to changes in housing requirements, economic or urbanistic, shows the strategic role that the facade plays in addressing today’s emergency of energy efficiency and pollution of cities. In his speech, Mr Cascella talked about the advantages of searching for balance and coherence between function, shape and comfort when designing facades, as dictated by the principles of bioclimatic architecture, in order to achieve sustainable building development and urban requalification.
“The Roof”: an architectural and landscape element
The in-depth discussion on the building envelope was completed by a topic dear to the company, the roof, with presentation of the book “Il Tetto” edited by Professor Alfonso Acocella, and published by Brianza Plastica. This publication also delves into the cultural and technical importance of roofs, focusing on the roof as an architectural and landscape element, with the aim of retracing and reconnecting the links with that design and executive expertise present and active until the mid-twentieth century and less prominent in more recent times.
The book dedicated to the roof gives an overview of historical fabrics where it is possible to gather numerous architectural elements capable of enhancing the figurative qualities of the building, articulating and tying the trends of the upper profile of buildings to local construction materials and traditions.
The urbanistic and building culture of the last decades has led to new interest in this architectural element, re-evaluating the upper profile of towns as a valuable environmental asset to be preserved, in harmony with the original spirit of the places, through actions increasingly mindful to preservation, reuse, restoration and compatibility.
Renovation of the Centrale dell’Acqua: from technical building to cultural centre
A clear example of this is the Centrale dell’Acqua in Milan, which hosted the book presentations. The building is located at the intersection of Piazza Diocleziano and Via Cenisio and is one of the oldest waterworks plants in Milan. It was built between the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century on a project by the engineer Franco Minorini.
The rectangular building, in neo-Romanesque style, and subject to monumental restrictions, was recently brought back to life as a cultural centre open to the public. Brianza Plastica also contributed to the highly complex renovation and recovery project by supplying the Isotec thermal insulation system for the roof.
The “Facciate ventilate” and “Il tetto” books are available free of charge, by sending a request to the company at the email marketing@brianzaplastica.it